UK statistics
UK Household Saving Ratio: ONS Quarterly National Accounts
The UK household saving ratio - the share of disposable income that households save rather than spend - was 8.8% in Q2 2026 (April to June), per the ONS Quarterly National Accounts published on 30 September 2026. That is up from 8.6% in Q1 2026 but below the 10.2% of Q1 2025, and still above the 2015-19 pre-pandemic average of 6.6%.
Headline numbers
- UK saving ratio Q2 2026
- 8.8% ONS Quarterly National Accounts
- Q1 2026 saving ratio
- 8.6% ONS series DGD8
- Pre-pandemic 2015-19 average
- 6.6% ONS series DGD8, 20 quarters
The detail
The household saving ratio is a key indicator of household financial resilience and of the capacity for future consumer spending. On the latest ONS estimates (series DGD8) it has eased over the past year: 10.2% in Q1 2025, 9.7% in Q2 2025, 9.0% in Q3 2025, 9.4% in Q4 2025, 8.6% in Q1 2026 and 8.8% in Q2 2026. Every one of those quarters is revised as new data arrives, so earlier readings quoted elsewhere may differ.
ONS says the Q2 2026 rise was driven by non-pension saving, which contributed 4.5 percentage points (up from 3.8), while pension saving contributed 4.3 percentage points (down from 4.8). Household consumption spending grew 0.9% in the quarter.
For context, the ratio peaked at 27.1% in Q2 2020, during the first lockdown, when spending opportunities collapsed. Across 2015 to 2019 it ranged from 3.8% to 11.1%, averaging 6.6%, so today's reading remains above the typical pre-pandemic level.
For tax and investing decisions, the saving ratio frames where the household balance sheet is heading. The ISA allowance (£20,000), the pension annual allowance (£60,000) and the Personal Savings Allowance (£1,000 / £500 / £0 for basic, higher and additional-rate taxpayers) are all fixed cash amounts, so as savings balances and interest grow, more savers find part of their interest taxable unless it sits in an ISA or pension.
Sources
- ONS - Quarterly national accounts, UK: April to June 2026 (retrieved 2026-09-30)
- ONS - Households' saving ratio (per cent) time series DGD8 (retrieved 2026-09-30)
- Our methodology & full source list →
Related statistics
- Average UK savings
The FCA Financial Lives 2024 survey (published 16 May 2025, still the latest wave) found that 90% of UK adults had some cash savings, and that the median amount among those savers was £5,000 to £5,999. 29% of adults had no investible assets or less than £1,000, while 43% had £10,000 or more.
- ISA millionaires
HMRC data released to Rathbones under a Freedom of Information request show 5,070 people held ISAs worth £1 million or more at the start of the 2023/24 tax year. Rathbones projects that this could have risen to around 17,600 by April 2026, assuming 8% annual returns and full use of the annual ISA allowance.
- Real Wages
UK real average weekly earnings (total pay, adjusted for CPIH inflation) were £531 a week in July 2026, 2.9% above the pre-financial-crisis peak of £516 in March 2008. The series has been above that peak in every month since February 2024, after 16 years below it outside the Covid distortion.