New data from Klarna, a leading global retail bank, payments and shopping service, shows that Brits are saving a higher share of their income each month compared to their international peers but are less interested in investing their money.
Klarna’s Money Management pulse, conducted across 11 countries, finds that UK consumers save the most, putting aside 14% of their income each month, more than any other country except Australia and on an upward trend. On average, UK consumers save £311 each month, 10% more than what they were saving at the beginning of 2021, for an estimated total of £16 billion. The most popular reasons for savings are to go on vacation (37%), putting money away for retirement (34%) and making home improvements (27%).
While Brits show higher preference in putting their money in savings accounts, they are less interested in investing, with only 3 in 10 (29%) doing so against the global average of 4 in 10 (37%). 9 in 10 (86%) Brits put their money in a savings account, and among those who do invest, stocks are the most popular investment asset in the UK, with 7 in 10 (67%) choosing this form of investment, followed by mutual funds (34%) and bonds (34%).
“As volatility in the stock market has increased over the past few months, Brits have possibly become more cautious with their money, saving at a higher rate. After over two years of uncertainty over traveling, it’s perhaps not surprising that one of the main reasons for savings is to go on vacation, followed by putting away pension money.” Viveka Söderbäck Consumer trend expert at Klarna commented.
Methodology:
Insights from Klarna’s consumer research, conducted in cooperation with Nepa across 11 countries (the US, UK, Australia, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Sweden, Norway and Finland). The research is conducted on a quarterly basis, and always includes a minimum of 1,000 respondents in each country per quarter.
In total, more than 18,000 consumers (out of which 1,648 were from the UK) participated during Q4 2021 (October-December)). The sample sizes are nationally representative, naturally including both Klarna users and non-Klarna users, and have been selected by research agency Nepa.