Households had 3.2% less disposable income last year, compared with 2011, the sharpest drop in over 30 years, according to the national statistics office CBS.

The drop was largely due to increasing unemployment, inflation and higher taxes and social security premiums, the CBS said. For example, inflation of 2.5% outstripped the average rise in salary of 1.6%.

The drop is the biggest since records began in 1981 and marks the fifth year in a row that disposable income has gone down.