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The NatWest Savings Index 2025

We surveyed 10,000 people to find out how the UK saves today

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What is the NatWest Savings Index? Open in new window

What were the key findings? Open in new window

Savings trends at a glance Open in new window

How do different age groups save? Open in new window

How much does the UK know about ISAs? Open in new window

How do UK cities save? Open in new window

What kind of saver are you? Open in new window

Start your savings journey Open in new window

Download the Savings Index Open in new window

From average savings in the UK to people’s ISA knowledge, the 2025 NatWest Savings Index offers plenty of useful insights. Across different cities, ages and income groups, our research looks at the benefits of saving money – and the main ways we do it.

How much does the average person have in emergency savings? What are the average savings trends by age? Get answers to these questions and more.

Our survey was conducted between 26th November and 5th December 2024.

Key findings

We’re saving an average of £226 a month.
Londoners have the highest UK savings rate, averaging £290 each month.
People in Belfast are the most informed about saving (62%).
We’re more likely to give up meals out (39%) to boost our savings.
We're less likely to give up holidays, leisure and toiletries when saving.

How does the UK feel about saving in 2025?

As a nation, we’re generally confident about our savings knowledge. When asked to rate this from 1-10, the average among our respondents was 7.

And just like last year’s Savings Index, most people favour tried and tested saving methods:

34% don’t let their balance drop below a certain amount.
33% use more than one account to manage their spending.
28% track savings manually using a spreadsheet or notepad.
60% set a budget – up 4% on last year.

Meanwhile, the average emergency savings pot is now £4,579. This has risen £110 since March 2024 – an increase of 2.5%.

Savings trends at a glance

£226

is the average saved per month

£4,579

is the average emergency fund

28%

of people are saving for a holiday

37%

of people are very likely to open an ISA in the next 12 months

Read our Savings Index in full

Take a deeper dive into our 2025 Savings Index. Our full report offers further insights into the UK’s saving habits.

See all our findings (PDF, 3 MB)

How do different age groups save?

18-34

18% of 18-34s save on a weekly basis.
26% think they should save between £200 and £500 a month.
71% set a budget.

Saving trends among 18-34s

When breaking down average savings trends by age in the UK, we found younger generations were less likely to rate saving as highly important. But it’s not stopping them from saving, with 6% of 18-24s even doing so every day. Over 70% of 18-34 year olds now set themselves a budget too.

Yet millennials and Generation Z aren’t entirely relaxed about their finances. In fact, financial concerns are more likely to weigh on their mental health than other age groups.

35-54

35% use more than one bank account to manage their money.
44% would give up meals out to increase their savings.
54% openly discuss their finances with family.

Saving trends among 35-54s

The UK’s 35-54s are generally open to discussing their finances with others. Some 40% would seek financial guidance from their bank – higher than younger age groups. More than half openly discuss money with their family too.

When managing their finances, 35-54s are also likelier to use multiple accounts compared to other age groups. But 14% lack an emergency savings pot.

55+

33% aren’t sure how much they should be putting in savings each month.
29% have over £10,000 in an emergency fund – compared to just 18% on average.
70% don’t have a monthly or yearly savings goal.

Saving trends among over-55s

When comparing typical savings habits by age, older respondents generally stick to tried and tested methods. For example, many stop their current account from dipping below a certain level. And they tend to use manual budget trackers and multiple bank accounts to stay on top of things.

This contrasts with 18-34s and 35-44s, who generally use a wider range of budgeting tactics.

How much does the UK know about ISAs?

50% of respondents currently have a cash ISA. 25% have a stocks and shares account. 8% hold a lifetime ISA. 35% don't have any ISAs at all.

Individual savings accounts (ISAs) give people the chance to earn tax-free interest and returns. But many savers are still unsure what an ISA is and how they work.

How far do people understand their ISA options?

When asked about different ISA options:

73% of people said they were aware of cash ISAs, dropping to 62% in London.
60% knew of stocks and shares ISAs.
44% were aware of lifetime ISAs.

However, people aged 18-24 had much lower awareness:

41% were aware of cash ISAs.
37% were aware of stocks and shares ISAs.
29% knew of lifetime ISAs.
21% were aware of help to buy ISAs.

When it comes to people’s understanding of different products, cash ISAs lead the way (63%). Yet there’s a significant drop-off in their understanding of stocks and shares ISAs (38%) and lifetime ISAs (22%).

Half of respondents currently have a cash ISA, while 25% have a stocks and shares account, and 8% hold a lifetime ISA. But 35% don’t have any ISAs at all.

Savers uncertain on tax-free ISA allowance

ISAs are a tax-free product. This means you can save up to £20k per tax year (allowance for 2024/25) across all your ISA types without paying tax on your interest or returns.

But there’s a clear knowledge gap, with 38% of savers unsure about the ISA allowance, and only 33% aware that it’s £20,000 for 2024/25.

Some 39% of 18-24 year olds were unsure about the tax-free allowance limit, rising to 43% among the over-65s.

You must be a UK resident aged 18+. You can only open and subscribe to one Cash ISA with NatWest, but you could open other Cash ISAs with different providers as long as you don't save more than your annual ISA 2024/25 allowance of £20,000 across all your ISAs. Tax free means interest payable is exempt from UK income tax. Tax reliefs referred to are those applied under current UK legislation, which may change. Stocks and Shares ISA - The value of investments can fall as well as rise, and you may not get back the full amount you invest. Eligibility criteria, fees and charges apply.

How income impacts savings

44% of people earning £60,000+ a year save more than £500 each month.
24% of those earning less than £10,000 don’t have an emergency fund.

Saving trends across different income groups

Perhaps unsurprisingly, higher earners on salaries of £60,000+ tend to make larger average savings in the UK. Almost half (44%) save more than £500 a month, compared to just 12% across all income groups.

Higher earners are also likelier to speak with financial advisers when managing their savings. And 41% felt confident or very confident about different saving methods.

How do UK cities save?

How did different cities perform in our index?

Belfast has retained its 2024 title as the most informed and confident UK city for saving. This year, it’s closely followed by London and Coventry.

To get our index, we looked at average annual savings as a percentage of income in each city we surveyed. We also researched saving habits by city – taking an average percentage of how people responded to these questions:

How often do you put money into savings?
How important or unimportant do you think saving money is for your financial goals?
How would you rate your understanding of the different ways to save money?
Do you set a budget for yourself?
Do you have a monthly or yearly savings goal?

Want to know how your nearest city performed? Use the dropdown below - the higher the score, the more informed and confident the savers who live there are.

top8

City	Index score	City	Index score
Belfast	62%	Gloucester	58%
London	61%	Manchester	58%
Coventry	59%	Edinburgh	58%
Birmingham	58%	York	57%

englandnorth

City	Index score
Manchester	58%
York	57%
Liverpool	56%
Sheffield	54%
Newcastle	54%
Leeds	52%

englandsouth

City	Index score
Southampton	55%
Oxford	55%
Portsmouth	54%
Brighton & Hove	53%

englandeast

City	Index score
London	61%
Cambridge	56%
Chelmsford	56%
Norwich	55%

englandwest

City	Index score
Bristol	56%
Plymouth	51%

scotland

City	Index score
Edinburgh	58%
Aberdeen	56%
Glasgow	55%

wales

City	Index score
Wrexham	55%
Cardiff	53%
Swansea	50%

northernireland

City	Index score
Belfast	62%

How do different regions compare?

Londoners save the most on average each month (£290).
People in the East of England have the highest average emergency fund (£5,054).
Just 26% of people in Wales are willing to give up clothing or fashion purchases to increase their savings. This jumps to 38% in Northern Ireland.
Only 35% of those in Wales would give up meals out to boost their savings, compared to 50% in Northern Ireland.
19% of Londoners are saving for a home deposit – compared to a national average of 13%.

Regional saving trends in detail

Across the UK, 50% of people don’t have a savings goal, an improvement on 53% last year. But 82% now face barriers to their saving efforts.

Respondents in Wales were the least focused on savings overall, with those in Swansea the least likely to have a savings goal.

Meanwhile, people in Northern Ireland were far likelier to save for a rainy day than spend on meals out or clothing. And Belfast respondents largely agreed that savings were relatively or very important.

The East of England boasted the highest average emergency savings fund at over £5,000. Some 44% of respondents there also said they rarely or never dipped into their savings.

What kind of saver are you?

As our 2025 Savings Index shows, we all save in different ways. We asked our survey respondents to describe their approach, with focused, careful and disciplined savers coming out on top.