FIONA REDDAN

Irish consumers are slowly returning to normal regular saving habits, a new survey shows.

While the Nationwide UK (Ireland)/ ESRI Savings Index, which measures people's attitude towards saving, was unchanged in February, the results show a recovery in regularly saving which had previously fallen significantly during 2010-2013.

Brendan Synnott, managing director of Nationwide UK (Ireland), said that while the index is unchanged this month, the underlying trend is showing a recovery in regular saving to normal longer term levels.

“From 2010 to 2013 the proportion of people saving regularly fell from 40 per cent to 31 per cent due to an inability to save, with 90 per cent of non-savers saying they had no money left after paying for necessities. In 2014 so far, 37 per cent of people say they are saving regularly, therefore a recovery has taken place in terms of ability to save”.

The proportion of people not saving rose from 36 per cent to 38 per cent, with 84 per cent of those who don’t save saying that their reason for not saving is that they have no money left after paying for necessities.

Negativity towards government policy on saving remains strong but has improved slightly versus last month. Almost two thirds of respondents believe that government policy discourages saving. This negativity is particularly felt in the over 50s with 67 per cent of this group expressing negative sentiment.

Consumers were also asked what they are saving for and the largest proportion said that they are saving with a precautionary motive, with 38 per cent of people indicating that they are saving for unexpected expenses – a decline from 42 per cent a year ago. Meanwhile, 10 per cent said they were saving to buy or renovate a home, an increase from 6 per cent a year ago.