One in ten people have no cash savings

19 May 2025

A survey carried out by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has found that one in ten individuals have no cash savings at all.

An additional 21% of people have less than £1,000 to make use of in an emergency, the FCA revealed.

One in four people in the UK have low financial resilience which leads them to miss payments, struggle to handle commitments or miss out on having savings to fall back on.

The survey found that, in regard to retirement, 33% of adults with a Defined Contribution pension have less than £10,000 saved.

Sarah Pritchard, Executive Director of Consumers and Competition at the FCA, said: 'Our data shows that finances are stretched for many - with some unable to save for a rainy day. And we know that some do not have the confidence to invest. But there are improvements – more people with current accounts and less digital exclusion. Our strategy will build on this to help people better navigate their financial lives.'