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Stocks and shares ISA statistics

Less than 5% of Brits have a stocks and shares ISA. How much do Brits invest in stocks and shares ISAs?

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Charlie Barton
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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.

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.

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 generations are far more likely to put money in stocks and shares ISAs for men and women. 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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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
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
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.

Sources

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

Matt Mckenna
UK communications manager
T: +44 20 8191 8806
matt.mckenna@finder.com@MichHutchison/in/matthewmckenna2

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