Consumers More Confident in Ability to Save

Improvement in attitude to government policy and increasing satisfaction with amount being saved pushes Savings Index upwards

The Nationwide UK (Ireland) / ESRI Savings Index, which measures overall sentiment towards saving, increased to 114 in September, up 17 points on last month.

The overall increase is primarily driven by a 20 point increase in the Savings Environment sub- index, one of two sub-indices that make-up the Savings Index.   This asks if people believe now is a good time to save and whether they think government policy encourages them to save.

This sub-index stands at 102 with the proportion of respondents who believe now is a good time to save remaining constant versus last month at 30%. However, there has also been a decrease in the proportion of respondents who believe now is a bad time to save, down to 36% in September from 40% in August. In addition, the proportion of people who think that government policy encourages saving increased to 10% in September from 6% in August, while negativity towards government policy on saving decreased by 6 percentage points to 57%.

Meanwhile, the Savings Attitude sub-index, which asks respondents about their saving behaviour and how they feel about the amount they save, increased to 126 in September from 112 in August. The three-month moving average also increased, by 6 percentage points in September to 122.

The proportion of people saving regularly increased to 37% in September, from 36% last month. This increase is driven by those aged under 50 with 41% of this age group now saving regularly compared to 38% last month. The proportion of people who are satisfied with the amount they are saving increased to 19% compared to 16% last month.

More people are also optimistic about saving in the future. When asked about their ability to save in 6 months’ time, 19% of people said they expect to be able to save more than at present. This compares to 11% last month and 14% a year ago. Those aged under 50 are most optimistic with 26% of this age group expressing a positive opinion. 

When asked about their preference as to how they might allocate any money over and above their everyday needs, 48% would pay off debts, including their mortgage, compared to 51% a year ago; 11% said they would spend, compared to 9% a year ago; 7% per cent said they would invest, the same as a year ago. The proportion of respondents who would choose to save the money stands at 34% in September, compared to 33% a year ago.