Savings up and down

by Gill Montia

Story link: Savings up and down

Birmingham Midshire, the mortgage lender, has published the latest edition of its Saving Britain report, which questions 2,000 people about their savings habits, every three months.

The report shows that UK savers have invested less money in past three months, than in the same period of 2006, with the average amount saved at £910.

This is almost one-third less than in the same three month period of 2006, when £1,376 was the average amount squirreled away.

However, the report highlights an increase in the number of people who do at least have some money put aside for a rainy day.

This group increased to 67% of respondents, compared with 62% during the same period last year.

The data can be interpreted as showing that rising costs in some areas are reducing the capacity to save, while at the same time, recent interest rate rises have encouraged more people to save.

Young savers are doing best, with those aged 18 to 24 putting aside £1,523 on average during the past three months, compared to £688 for the over 55s.

The UK’s most conscientious savers live in the Scottish Borders region and those in North Scotland have the most put aside for a rainy day at £1,820.

The South West of the country is in serious need of encouragement as 33% of respondents had saved nothing during the past three months.

According to the latest data from the Office of National Statistics the savings ratio in the UK is at its lowest since the 1960s.