Savings Index Decreases in July

Consumers unhappy with the amount they are saving

The Nationwide UK (Ireland) / ESRI Savings Index, which measures overall sentiment towards saving, decreased to 112 in July, from 116 in June.

The decline in the main Index is primarily driven by a fall of 24 index points in the component which asks respondents to describe how they feel about how much they are saving. Respondents over the age of 50, in particular, are feeling much more negative in July with 21 per cent now believing they save nowhere near what they should be. This compares to 13.7 per cent recorded in June. This is the reason for the large fall recorded in the Savings Attitude sub-index.  There was an increase of 5 per cent in the number of people who currently feel they are saving nowhere near as much as they feel they should be.

The Savings Attitude sub-index asks respondents about their saving behaviour and how they feel about the amount they save. In July, the sub-index decreased from 127 in June to 103. The three-month moving average also declined from 129 in June to 121 this month.

The proportion of those who do not save at all is 32.3 per cent compared to 35 per cent last month while the proportion of those who now save occasionally or regularly rose from 65 per cent last month to 68 per cent in July.

The Savings Environment sub-index asks whether or not respondents believe that the current period is a good time to save and whether they think government policy encourages people to save.

This sub-index rose from 105 in June to 121 in July. The three-month moving average is also up from 106 last month to 113.The share of respondents who believe now is a good time to save increased in July to the level recorded in May, 35 per cent, which was the highest recorded since June 2011. The data suggest that those who last month felt the environment for saving was “quite bad” are now feeling slightly more positive.