Nearly a third of households in Scotland ‘have no savings’

Nearly a third of households in Scotland have nothing in savings, according to new analysis.

In 2023, 29% of households in Scotland reported having no savings, while the figure for the rest of the UK was 26%, the Financial Fairness Tracker found.

This rose to 32% of households in Scotland in 2024, higher than the rest of the UK (23%).

The Financial Fairness Tracker, commissioned by the abrdn Financial Fairness Trust and analysed by a team at the University of Bristol, has been monitoring the personal finances of UK households since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

It found 14% of households in Scotland are “very worried” about their overall financial situation over the next 12 months, and 20% felt that they were “currently struggling to pay for food or other necessary expenses”.

A similar number of households (22%) said they would need to borrow to meet their expenses if their household income fell by a third or more, compared with 18% of households in the rest of the UK.

More than a third (36%) of Scottish households reported feeling they have no control over their financial situation, while a similar proportion said that financial worries cause them to sleep poorly at night (35%) or their financial situation was causing their mental health to deteriorate (37%).

The Financial Fairness Tracker used responses from a sample of around 6,000 UK households, 880 of which were in Scotland.

Mubin Haq, chief executive of abrdn Financial Fairness Trust, said: “It’s vital we all have a financial cushion to help us cope with financial shocks, such as replacing essential household goods or losing a job.

“Without any savings, everyday problems such as the fridge breaking down can push people into debt and force them to turn to high-cost lenders.

“What is particularly worrying is that Scotland is moving in the wrong direction with even fewer having a savings safety net, which is in stark contrast to the rest of the UK.”

Professor Sharon Collard, chairwoman in personal finance at the University of Bristol, said: “As the Scottish and UK Governments continue to grapple with the issue of low productivity, this new data is a stark reminder that, for many households in Scotland, money worries are strongly linked to poor health and wellbeing.

“These need to be tackled in tandem if we are to see productivity growth.”