Stocks and shares ISA statistics

An ISA (individual savings account) is a great way to save your money in a tax-free savings account. Across the different types of ISAs, adults (18+) have a tax-free allowance of £20,000, while junior ISAs now have an allowance of £9,000.

We’ve looked into the latest stocks and shares ISA statistics to see how the UK is utilising these tax-free accounts.

• Less than 5% of Brits currently have a stocks and shares ISA.
• 12 million adult ISA accounts were subscribed to in 2020 to 2021.
• In 2021, £72 billion was subscribed to adult ISAs.
• In 2020-21, the average subscription per account for cash ISAs was £9,432 and for stocks and shares ISAs was £4,568.
• 943,000 Junior ISA accounts were subscribed to in 2020 to 2021. Out of which, 668,000 were cash and 275,000 were stocks and shares.
• The total amount subscribed to junior ISAs reached the over £1 billion in 2021.
• The average amount invested for junior cash ISAs in 2020/2021 is £913, with junior stocks and shares ISAs being £1,665 in 2020/2021.
• The annual ISA allowance stands at £20,000 for the tax year 2022-23, unchanged from 2021-22.

Adult ISAs

An ISA (individual savings account) is the most popular type of savings account, thanks to its tax-free benefits. But how many Brits are taking advantage of these tax-free savings accounts, whether in the form of a cash ISA or a stocks and shares ISA?

If you’re not familiar with stocks and shares ISAs, they’re savings accounts that allow you to invest in stocks and shares, usually based on the level of risk that you are comfortable with. If you want to know more, we’ve compiled a list of the best trading apps to help you decide which is best for you.

Cash ISAs have become less popular over the years from 2015 to 2021, while stocks and shares ISAs have become more popular. Read on to find out more about the changes in adult ISAs in the UK.

Number of adult ISAs

In 2021, the number of adult ISA accounts have decreased to 11.55 million – this is 880,000 less than in 2020. There are over 8.05 million cash ISAs, which is 1.65 million less than in 2020. However, stocks and share ISAs have increased from 2021 to 3.5 million – this is 770,000 more than in 2021

• Graph
• Table

Total amount subscribed to adult ISAs

Cash ISAs

In 2020/2021, the total amount subscribed to cash ISAs was £37 billion – this is £12 billion less than in 2019/2020.

Stocks and shares ISAs

In 2020/2021, the total amount subscribed to stocks and share ISAs was £34 billion – this is £10 billion more than in 2019/2020.

• Graph
• Table

Average amount subscribed to adult ISAs

In the year 2020 to 2021, the average subscription per account for cash ISAs is £9,432 and for stocks and shares ISAs is £4,568.

• Graph
• Table

Junior ISAs

A junior cash ISA is a tax-free long-term savings account for under-18s in the UK. The current savings limit for the 2021/2022 year is £9,000.

Number of junior ISAs

By 2021, the number of Junior ISA accounts subscribed grew to 943,000, from 706,00 in 2020, representing an increase of 34% in the year. From this, 668,000 were cash ISA accounts and 275,000 were stocks and shares ISA accounts.

• Graph
• Table

Total amount subscribed to junior ISAs

The total amount subscribed to junior ISAs in 2020/2021 reached over £1 billion (£1.068 billion), this is £97 million in 2019/2020.
The total amount in stocks and shares ISAs increased £84 million in a single year, where Cash ISAs increased by £13 million. Junior cash ISAs hold 57% of total junior ISAs, with stocks and shares making up the remaining 43%.

• Graph
• Table

Average amount subscribed to junior ISAs

Interestingly, the average amount invested in junior stocks and shares ISAs is more than junior cash ISAs. The average amount invested into a stocks and shares ISA was £1,665 in 2021 – this is 82% more than the average amount invested into a junior cash ISA (£913). Explore the graph below to find out more.

• Graph
• Table

• Previous research: Stocks and shares ISA statistics 2021

  • Less than 5% of Brits currently have a stocks and shares ISA.
  • The number of adult ISAs in the UK is up from 11 million in 2018/2019 to over 12 million in 2019/2020.
  • The average amount in adult cash ISAs has fallen from £5,187 in 2018/2019 to £5,024 in 2019/2020, with stocks and shares ISAs falling from £9,331 in 2018/2019 to £8,875 in 2019/2020.
  • The number of junior ISAs has increased by 7% from 954,000 in 2018/2019 to 1,023,000 in 2019/2020.
  • The average amount invested for junior cash ISAs in 2019/2020 is £846, with junior stocks and shares ISAs being £1,180 in 2019/2020.

  Adult ISAs

  Number of adult ISAs

  The total number of ISAs has seen a resurgence in recent years. Over 2020, the number of ISAs has increased to 12.43 million – this is 1.27 million more than in 2019. There are over 9.7 million cash ISAs, and this is 1.22 million more than in 2019. There was also an increase of 310,000 more stocks and shares ISAs in 2020, with 2.73 million accounts open in 2020. Explore the graph below to find out more about adult ISAs.

  • Graph
  • Table

  Year	Cash ISAs	Stocks and shares ISAs	Total
  2015/2016	10.12 million	2.54 million	12.66 million
  2016/2017	8.48 million	2.59 million	11.07 million
  2017/2018	7.78 million	2.84 million	10.09 million
  2018/2019	8.48 million	2.42 million	11.16 million
  2019/2020	9.70 million	2.73 million	12.43 million

  Total amount subscribed to adult ISAs

  Cash ISAs

  In 2019/2020, the total amount subscribed to cash ISAs increased by 7.4% to £73 billion. The growing number of cash ISAs in 2020 also caused the total amount invested in cash ISAs to spike from £44 billion in 2018/2019 to just under £49 billion in 2019/2020. Despite this growth, this figure was still much lower than the figures in 2015/2016 when there was nearly £60 billion subscribed to cash ISAs.

  Stocks and shares ISAs

  In 2020, over £24 billion was invested in stocks and shares ISAs – an increase of just under £1 million from 2019. This was also 14% higher than the amount invested in stocks and shares ISAs since 2015/2016. Check out the graph below to find out more.

  • Graph
  • Table

  Year	Cash ISAs	Stocks and shares ISAs	Total
  2015/2016	£58 billion	£21 billion	£80 billion
  2016/2017	£39 billion	£22 billion	£62 billion
  2017/2018	£40 billion	£28 billion	£65 billion
  2018/2019	£44 billion	£23 billion	£68 billion
  2019/2020	£49 billion	£24 billion	£73 billion

  Average amount subscribed to adult ISAs

  Cash ISAs

  The average amount subscribed into adult ISAs has remained fairly consistent since 2015/2016. The average amount in a cash ISA in 2019/2020 was £5,024, which is the lowest amount in a cash ISA since 2016/2017.

  Stocks and shares ISAs

  The average amount in a stocks and shares ISA in 2019/2020 was £8,875. This is also the lowest average amount since 2016/2017.

  • Graph
  • Table

  Year	Cash ISAs	Stocks and shares ISAs
  2015/2016	£5,801	£8,322
  2016/2017	£4,622	£8,623
  2017/2018	£5,228	£9,685
  2018/2019	£5,187	£9,331
  2019/2020	£5,024	£8,875

  Junior ISAs

  A junior cash ISA is a tax-free long-term savings account for under-18s in the UK. The current savings limit for the 2021/2022 year is £9,000.

  Number of junior ISAs

  By 2020, the number of junior ISAs grew to over 706,000 cash ISAs and 317,00 stocks and shares ISAs. In total, this amounted to over 1 million junior ISAs, an increase of 38% since 2015/2016.

  • Graph
  • Table

  Year	Cash ISAs	Stocks and shares ISAs	Total
  2015/2016	497,000	241,000	738,000
  2016/2017	569,000	225,000	794,000
  2017/2018	636,000	271,000	907,000
  2018/2019	668,000	286,000	954,000
  2019/2020	706,000	317,000	1,023,000

  Total amount subscribed to junior ISAs

  The total amount subscribed to junior ISAs was £971 million in 2019/2020 – £3 million less than in 2018/2019. While the total value of cash ISAs increased by £42 million in 2019, the total amount in stocks and shares ISAs dropped by £45 million in a single year. This means that cash ISAs hold 61% of this total, with stocks and shares making up the remaining 39%.

  • Graph
  • Table

  Year	Cash ISAs	Stocks and shares ISAs	Total
  2015/2016	£522 million	£399 million	£921 million
  2016/2017	£525 million	£333 million	£858 million
  2017/2018	£517 milllion	£385 million	£902 million
  2018/2019	£555 million	£419 million	£974 million
  2019/20	£597 million	£374 million	£971 million

  Average amount subscribed to junior ISAs

  Interestingly, the average amount invested in junior stocks and shares ISAs is more than junior cash ISAs. The average amount invested into a stocks and shares ISA was £1,180 in 2020 – this is 39% more than the average amount invested into a junior cash ISA (£846). Explore the graph below to find out more.

  • Graph
  • Table

  Year	Cash ISAs	Stocks and shares ISAs
  2015/2016	£1,050	£1,656
  2016/2017	£923	£1,480
  2017/2018	£812	£1,421
  2018/2019	£830	£1,465
  2019/2020	£846	£1180

• Previous research: Stocks and shares ISA statistics 2020

  Quick overview

  • Less than 5% of Brits currently have a stocks and shares ISA.
  • The average annual rate of return for stocks and shares ISAs for April 1999 to April 2020 was 5.14% (past performance is no guarantee of future results).
  • Over 2.4 million adult accounts and 286,000 junior accounts were open in 2018–2019.
  • The average adult stocks and shares ISA has £9,331.
  • The average junior stocks and shares ISA has £1,465.
  • In total, there is £22.6 billion in adult stocks and shares ISAs.
  • In junior stocks and shares ISAs, there is more than £419 million.
  • The average amount of money per subscription for 2017/18 was £6,409, of which cash ISAs made up £5,114 (80%)
  • As of December 2018, the average interest rate on cash ISAs was 0.92%
  • As of 2017/18, approximately 15% of UK adults had a cash ISA account

  All investing should be regarded as long term. The value of investments can fall as well as rise, and you may get back less than you invested. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Your capital is at risk.

  Adult ISAs: Number of accounts

  The number of adult stocks and shares ISAs reached 2.9 million accounts in 2017–2018. However, the number of accounts dropped by 445,000 in 2018–2019 to 2.4 million. This means that less than 5% of British adults are currently utilising a stocks and shares ISA.

  • Accounts
  • Table

  Year	Number of accounts subscribed (million)
  2008–09	2.960
  2009–10	3.011
  2010–12	3.387
  2011–12	2.863
  2012–13	2.924
  2013–14	2.992
  2014–15	2.711
  2015–16	2.539
  2016–17	2.589
  2017–18	2.869
  2018–19	2.424

  Gender and age: Number of accounts

  Older men and women are far more likely to put money in stocks and shares ISAs. For example, there are almost the same amount of people over the age of 65 with a stocks and shares ISA than those under 45 (740,000 vs 777,000). Across all ages, there were more men than women invested in stocks and shares ISAs.

  • Number of accounts (2017–18)
  • Table

  	Men subscribing to stocks and shares ISAs	Women subscribing to stocks and shares ISAs
  Under 25	60,000	36,000
  25–34	188,000	89,000
  35–44	240,000	164,000
  45–54	360,000	302,000
  55–64	370,000	321,000
  65 and over	385,000	355,000

  Regional: Number of accounts

  The number of people with stocks and shares ISA differs across the UK. The South East is the region with the largest number of stocks and shares ISAs, with 522,000 accounts. Following this, was London (435,000), East of England (294,000), the South West (288,000) and the North West (262,000). Northern Ireland had the lowest number of stocks and shares ISA subscriptions out of the UK (51,000), followed by the North East (83,000).

  • Number of accounts (2017–18)
  • Table

  Region	Number of accounts
  North East	83,000
  North West and Merseyside	262,000
  Yorkshire and the Humber	196,000
  East Midlands	183,000
  West Midlands	204,000
  East of England	294,000
  London	435,000
  South East	522,000
  South West	288,000
  Wales	105,000
  Scotland	235,000
  Northern Ireland	51,000

  Adult ISAs: Total amount invested

  Brits have £23 billion invested in stocks and shares ISAs in 2018–2019. This is down £5 billion from the high of £28 billion in 2017–2018. However, despite this drop, this is still the second-highest amount subscribed to stocks and shares ISAs and is up 133% since 2008–2009.

  • Investments
  • Table

  Year	Amounts subscribed (£ billion)
  2008–09	9.711
  2009–10	12.542
  2010–12	15.515
  2011–12	15.546
  2012–13	16.459
  2013–14	18.439
  2014–15	22.288
  2015–16	21.129
  2016–17	22.325
  2017–18	27.786
  2018–19	22.618

  Adult ISAs: Average amount per account

  The average amount invested in adult stocks and shares ISAs in the UK per account is currently at £9,331, the second-highest amount since 2008. The average amount subscribers have put into their stocks and shares ISAs has almost tripled since 2008. However, the average amount invested by stocks and shares ISA subscribers is down from 2017–2018, where it reached an all-time high of £9,685.

  • Average spend
  • Table

  Year	Average subscription per account (£)
  2008–09	3,281
  2009–10	4,165
  2010–12	4,581
  2011–12	5,431
  2012–13	5,629
  2013–14	6,163
  2014–15	8,221
  2015–16	8,322
  2016–17	8,623
  2017–18	9,685
  2018–19	9,331

  Junior ISAs: Number of accounts

  Since their inception in November 2011, the number of junior ISA stocks and shares accounts has been steadily increasing. After a slight dip in 2016–2017, the number of junior stock and shares ISAs have bounced back with 271,000 accounts open in 2017–2018. In 2018-2019, the number of junior stocks and shares ISAs hit an all-time high, with 286,000 accounts now open.

  • Accounts
  • Table

  Year	Number of accounts subscribed
  2012–13	92,000
  2013–14	122,000
  2014–15	145,000
  2015–16	241,000
  2016–17	225,000
  2017–18	271,000
  2018–19	286,000

  Junior ISAs: Total amount invested

  The total amount invested in junior stocks and shares ISAs hit an all-time high in 2018–2019, with £419 million in accounts. This is more than four times more than in 2012–2013 where only £99 million was invested in junior stocks and shares ISAs.

  • Investments
  • Table

  Year	Amounts subscribed (£ million)
  2012–13	99
  2013–14	147
  2014–15	177
  2015–16	399
  2016–17	333
  2017–18	385
  2018–19	419

  Junior ISAs: Average amount per account

  The average amount per account has dropped from £1,656 in 2015–2016 to £1,465 in 2018–2019. However, the average amount invested in junior stocks and shares ISAs has increased by 36% from 2012. Explore the graphs and tables below for more insights.

  • Average amount
  • Table

  Year	Average subscription per account (£)
  2012–13	1,075
  2013–14	1,208
  2014–15	1,221
  2015–16	1,656
  2016–17	1,480
  2017–18	1,421
  2018–19	1,465

  Cash ISAs over time

  The graphs below plot the number of cash ISA account subscriptions, the overall amount subscribed in cash ISA accounts and the average amount per subscription.

  Unsurprisingly, the values for junior cash ISAs is significantly lower than the corresponding adult accounts over the given time frames. However, the trends presented for adult accounts is often different than from junior accounts.

  The overwhelming trend among adult accounts is that, up to 2018, the number of accounts has decreased while the overall subscription amount has remained fairly constant. As the final graph supports, there are fewer accounts overall but, of those people that own cash ISA accounts, more money is being transferred in.

  • Number of cash ISA accounts
  • Table (in thousands)

  	Adult Cash ISA	Junior Cash ISA
  2012-13	11,682	204
  2013-14	10,481	310
  2014-15	10,288	365
  2015-16	10,118	497
  2016-17	8,480	569
  2017-18	7,783	636

  • Amount held in accounts
  • Table (in £ million)

  	Adult Cash ISA	Junior Cash ISA
  2012-13	40,901	294
  2013-14	38,821	431
  2014-15	60,951	405
  2015-16	58,694	522
  2016-17	39,191	525
  2017-18	39,801	517

  • Average amount held per account
  • Table (£)

  	Adult Cash ISA	Junior Cash ISA
  2012-13	3,501	1,442
  2013-14	3,704	1,391
  2014-15	5,924	1,110
  2015-16	5,801	1,050
  2016-17	4,622	923
  2017-18	5,114	813

  In 2018, the average amount held in an account was £5,114 for adults and £813 for juniors. During the 2012–2018 period, this was the lowest amount for juniors; in fact, it’s a 44% decrease on the 2012 numbers. In comparison, the 2018 average amount held for adult accounts was greater than the average value over the time period. Therefore, more juniors are deciding to open cash ISA accounts but appear to be able to afford to hold less in them in 2018. Meanwhile, the same accounts are becoming less popular among adults but these adults are saving more in their accounts.

Click here for more research. For all media enquiries, please contact:

Matt Mckenna
UK communications manager
T: +44 20 8191 8806

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