Savings statistics: Average savings in the UK in 2023

Whether you’d rather hide money under your mattress or more wisely put it into a savings account, savings are key to helping people plan their future, deal with accidents and secure a comfortable retirement. How much does the average person have saved in the UK? And are we getting better or worse? We explore the latest savings statistics.

Quick overview

• The average person in the UK has £17,773 in savings in 2023.
• Half of Brits (50%) have £1000 or less in savings.
• In 2023, almost a quarter (23%) of Brits have no savings at all, rising from a fifth (20%) in 2022.
• Around 27 million Brits (51%) would not be able to live off their savings for more than one month.
• Women only have £11,698 in savings on average, compared to £23,951 for men.
• Those aged 55+ have 14 times more in savings on average than those aged 18-24.
• The highest earners have 12 times more in savings on average than the lowest earners.
• A third (32%) of gen X have no savings at all, more than any other generation.
• Gen Z had the biggest increase in the number of people with no savings, going from 12% in 2022 to 22% in 2023.
• The average amount saved in a cash ISA was £4,330 for the 2021/2022 tax year.

What are the average savings in the UK?

According to research from Finder, the average person in the UK has £17,773 in savings in 2023, but half of Brits have £1000 or less in savings. There is also a gender gap, with women having £11,698 in savings on average, compared to £23,951 for men

What are the average savings by age group in the UK?

• 18-24 year olds have average savings of £2,533.
• 25-34 year olds have average savings of £4,775.
• 35-44 year olds have average savings of £6,751.
• 45-54 year olds have average savings of £14,591.
• 55+ year olds have average savings of £35,607.

Unsurprisingly, the value of savings increases with age. Those aged 18-24 have just £2,533 in savings, while those aged 55+ have 14 times as much in savings, with an average of £35,607.

In fact, those aged 55 and over have more savings than those aged 18-54 combined. The total for all other age groups comes to £28,649 compared to £35,607 for those aged 55 and over, with a difference of £6,958.

• Average savings by age

What are the average savings by generation?

In 2023, the generation with the most savings on average is the silent generation with £58,606 in savings. Baby boomers follow closely with £41,804.

However, the drop-off from baby boomers to members of gen X is significant, with the latter having an average £12,939 in savings.

Younger generations have the smallest amount in savings, with millennials and gen Z averaging £5,943 and £2,463 respectively.

• Chart
• Table

What are the average savings by region in the UK?

The region with the highest savings on average is the East of England, closely followed by the North West, South West and South East of England.

Those in the West Midlands have the lowest amount saved on average, but Greater London isn’t far behind, with average savings of just £8,901.

People in the East of England have more than 3 times the savings as those in the West Midlands.

• Savings across the UK

What are the average savings by income bracket?

It may sound obvious, but it’s still true – those who earn more can save more! For example, our survey found that people who earned more than £150,000 a year had £87,447 in savings on average, while those who earned £15,000 or less had just £7,003 saved on average. This means the highest earners had almost 12.5 times more in savings than the lowest earners.

You needed to be earning more than £35,000 a year before you reach the overall average UK savings amount.

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• Table

Can Brits survive on their savings?

External research has found that the average household of 2.4 people spends £2,907 a month, meaning the average Brit spends £1,211. Given this figure, we estimate that around half (51%) of all Brits would be able to live off their savings for less than one month.

Case study: The cost of living crisis has impacted Tracey's savings

Tracey Greyvenstein

Tracey is a Finder member from Abingdon who has been struggling to save due to the cost of living crisis. She tells us about her current situation:

I already have 3 side hustles and am still battling to get by. I cook for the local squash club, I sell clothes on eBay, I enter competitions and I do online surveys for money.

I am not happy with how much I have saved. I have had to use some of it to pay for things like car insurance, tyres, MOTs, electricity bills and repairs.

Which generation has the most people with no savings?

Gen X has the highest number of people with no savings, at 32% in 2023 compared to 29% in 2022. Gen Z had the biggest increase in the number of people with no savings, going from 12% in 2022 to 22% in 2023. 22% of millennials and 11% of silent generation members have no savings.

Baby boomers are the only generation where the number of people with no savings decreased, albeit marginally. In 2023, 17% of baby boomers have no savings, compared to 18% in 2022.

What are the average annual household savings?

It is forecasted that the average household savings, as a percentage of disposable income, will reduce to 4% in 2023. This follows a forecasted decrease from 10.75% in 2021 to 4.75% in 2022. It was initially forecasted to rise slightly again in 2024, but this will likely depend on the financial climate.

What percentage of people are saving for their retirement?

In 2021, 47% of people made sure that they saved for their retirement. 23% save occasionally. 13% are not saving now, but they did in the past. 12% are not saving now, but they do intend to save, and 5% never saved for retirement and don’t intend to.

Savings statistics for UK ISAs

There were almost 11.8 million ISAs subscribed to in total by UK residents in the 2021/2022 financial year, including cash ISAs, stocks and shares ISAs, lifetime ISAs and innovative finance ISAs.

The number of annual ISA subscriptions has decreased since the 2008/2009 financial year, perhaps in part because savings rates have declined during this period and people decided to place their savings elsewhere.

In 2010/2011, there were 15.2 million ISAs subscribed to in total, which was the highest during the ten years, while 2017/2018 saw the lowest number of ISA subscriptions with 10 million in total.

Cash ISAs have consistently been the most popular type, as they offer a reliable way to earn tax-free interest on your savings, even when savings rates are low. Stocks and shares ISAs are the next most popular and reached a peak of popularity in the most recent tax year, with 3.9 million subscriptions.

Lifetime ISAs were not introduced until 2016/2017 and allow you to save money towards a house purchase or retirement. You can pay in up to £4000 a year and the government will add a 25% bonus on top of whatever you save. This savings account has been growing in popularity since introduction, with a peak of 662,000 LISAs subscribed to in 2021/2022.

Innovative ISAs were introduced most recently in the 2017/2018 tax year. This account type allows people to earn tax-free interest on peer-to-peer lending, however, it is known to be a risky strategy and returns are not guaranteed. Just 17,000 innovative finance ISAs were opened in 2021/2022.

In the 2021/2022 tax year, UK residents placed £66.9 billion into ISAs. £30.9 billion of this was in cash ISAs, £34.2 billion in stocks and shares ISAs, £1.7 billion in lifetime ISAs and £144 million in innovative finance ISAs.

Although the number of ISAs subscribed to has declined since the 2008/2009 financial year, the total amount placed into ISAs by UK residents increased year-on-year before peaking in 2014/2015. There was then a drop in the value, but this has remained fairly level between 2016/2016 and 2021/2022.

The average amount saved into each ISA in the 2021/2022 tax year was £5,696. However, the amount that is placed into each type of savings account varies. For cash ISAs, the most popular type of tax-free savings account, £4,330 was saved on average.

In the 2022 financial year, £2566 was the average amount of savings placed into a lifetime ISA, but it’s important to note that UK residents can only pay in up to a maximum of £4000 a year anyway.

The average amount placed into stocks and shares ISAs and innovative finance ISAs is higher, at £8,690 and £8,520. These types of ISAs are riskier as they involve investing, but those who choose to use them may have more capital to save or invest.

The total ISA subscription limit is £20,000 and this can be across account types, so a person could place £4,000 in a lifetime ISA, £6,000 in a stocks and shares ISA and £10,000 in a cash ISA, as an example.

Savings tips and tricks to keep in mind

We’ve outlined some things to consider trying if you want to save regularly.

Switching providers

You will often only be on a good deal for your initial contract with a provider before being switched to their standard rate, which is typically a lot more expensive! If you are organised enough to switch when your contracts end, you can save a lot more money in the long run by always taking advantage of the best deals.

Loyalty points

Many supermarkets offer loyalty points or rewards, and these can often be spent on restaurants, accommodation and other shops as well as the supermarket itself. Shops such as Boots and Superdrug also offer loyalty points that allow customers to save on future spending.

Switching providers

Automated budgeting apps such as Emma help you save money by connecting all your bank accounts in one place. It gives you insights into your spending and lets you know where you might be wasting money. It also calculates how much you can afford to save each month.

Create savings pots

Having separate savings pots can also help you to make sure you are saving enough to put towards your monthly bills or another specific event that month. Bank apps such as Monzo and Sterling are very handy for creating these savings pots!

Case study: Nicola has made simple changes to help her save more

Nicola Frapwell

Nicola Frapwell, aged 32 from Crawley, West Sussex has been making changes to help her save more money during the cost of living crisis:

I always shop around when my broadband, mortgage contracts come to an end to find the best deal possible. I make reminder notes on my phone to make sure I don’t forget when my contracts expire so that I can shop around for the best price. Switching broadband has saved me around £6 per month and using less energy (only washing on full loads, shorter showers etc) is saving me approximately £15 per month.

I have also been shopping at Aldi over my usual Tesco’s and I’ve discovered some great items at a fraction of the cost! Switching supermarkets has saved me around £15 a week. I’m also a mad loyalty fan and I save up my points when shopping in Boots, Superdrug etc to treat myself and put towards Christmas and birthday presents.

Which methods should you use to save?

As well as simple tips and tricks, it’s also important to make sure you are saving your money in the most rewarding way, whether that’s a traditional savings account or a stocks and shares ISA.

Put your money into a good savings account

Savings accounts are a reliable way to put money away, but you should ensure your money is sitting in an account that pays good interest. Interest rates on savings accounts have been low for the past few years, but they are on the rise and there are some good deals out there. Fixed-rate savings accounts can sometimes offer higher interest rates than easy-access savings, but you’ll need to assess whether you are comfortable with putting a chunk of your money away for a fixed period.

Some banks also offer good interest rates on regular saver accounts, which can be great for those just starting out on their savings journey. These accounts let you put in a certain amount each month rather than a lump sum.

Premium bonds

This is another option where your money isn’t at risk. It works by offering cash prizes every month instead of guaranteed interest, so while you could end up not winning anything, the top prize is £1 million. When you look at the total amount of prizes paid out, the effective interest rate is currently 1.4% each year.

Consider a stocks and shares or lifetime ISA

If you are willing to take a riskier option for your money, you might consider putting some of your savings into a stocks and shares ISA. Markets like the FTSE have historically outperformed savings accounts, although your money is also at risk of decreasing with this option.

If you’re saving for a house or retirement, then you should also look at lifetime ISAs, as the government will give a bonus of 25% on what you pay in (up to £4,000 per year).

What is the 50/30/20 savings method?

The 50/30/20 method is fairly simple. You divide your expenses into 3 categories: needs, wants and savings. The method says that you should budget 50% of your income for fundamentals such as bills, rent and food (needs). You should then designate 30% for hobbies, eating out and other entertainment (wants), while 20% can be dedicated to building up your savings.

For example, based on the average monthly take-home pay in the UK (£2,191.75), you should allocate £1095.88 to your needs, £657.52 to your wants and £438.35 to your savings.

Can the average Brit save using the 50/30/20 method?

The 50/30/20 method would look more like 60/30/10 or 60/25/15 for the average UK resident. This is because the cost of needs equals approximately 60% of income, or just over £1300, rather than the recommended 50%.

We’ve included the following outgoings when looking at the total cost of needs for the average person:

• Groceries
• Energy bills
• Water bill
• Council tax
• Transport
• Mobile phone contract and broadband
• TV licence
• Insurance

Generational differences

To see if things look better for certain age groups, we looked at the percentage of each generation’s pay cheques that are spent on needs, wants and savings.

18- to 21-year-olds have no chance of using the 50/30/20 method if they have the same needs as those in the other. In fact, all the income for a person in this age group would be spent on the needs category!

22- to 29-year-olds are in a slightly better position because they have some spare income for enjoying themselves, but they aren’t able to save very much either. The biggest savers are in the 40-49 category when the average salary is highest, but even they need to spend more than the allocated 50% on their needs.

This assumes an average cost for every person for the most common needs, but certain age groups may have greater monthly outgoings based on their living situation and dependents.

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