An ISA (individual savings account) is a great way to save your money in a tax-free account. A stocks and shares ISA allows you to invest, usually based on the level of risk you are comfortable with. If you want to know more, we’ve compiled a list of the best trading platforms to help you decide which is best for you.
Below, we’ve looked into the latest ISA statistics to see how the UK uses these tax-free accounts.
ISA statistics UK: Highlights
6% of UK adults have a stocks and shares ISA according to a 2024 survey.
The average stocks and shares ISA balance subscribed in 2022/2023 was £7,355.
A quarter of Brits (26%) plan to open at least one ISA in the 2024/2025 tax year.
3.8 million stocks and shares ISAs and 7.9 million cash ISAs were subscribed to in the 2022/2023 financial year.
The average return on a stocks and shares ISA over the past 10 years has been 9.64%.
In 2022/2023, a third (31%) of ISA subscriptions were to stocks and shares ISAs while 63% were to cash ISAs.
The annual ISA allowance stands at £20,000 for the 2024/2025 tax year.
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3.8 million people subscribed to a stocks and shares ISA in the 2022/2023 tax year, down from around 3.9 million people in 2021/2022. Just over 7% of UK adults paid some money into a stocks and shares ISA during this period and a third (31%) of all ISA subscriptions made were to stocks and shares ISAs.
The number of subscriptions has grown by over a million since the 2019/2020 financial year when just 2.7 million stocks and shares ISAs were subscribed to.
How many people have a cash ISA?
7.9 million people subscribed to a cash ISA in 2022/2023, up from 7.1 million in the previous year but down from a high of 9.7 million in 2019/2020. 63% of ISA subscriptions were to cash ISAs.
In total, almost 12.5 million ISAs were subscribed to in the 2022/2023 tax year.
Our survey found that a quarter of Brits (26%) plan to open at least one ISA in the 2024/2025 tax year. A fifth of those (20%) already have an ISA and intend to open another, while a further 5% do not currently have an ISA but intend to open one.
What is the average return on a stocks and shares ISA?
The average return on a stocks and shares ISA over the past 10 years has been 9.64%. However, the performance of this type of ISA can vary significantly, seeing losses as well as returns.
The average stocks and shares ISA experienced a loss of 3.27% between February 2022 and February 2023. This is down from an average return of 6.92% between 2021 and 2022 and an average return of 13.55% between 2020 and 2021, when the stock market saw a boom after the pandemic.
Overall, UK adults placed an impressive £28 billion in stocks and shares ISA during the 2022/2023 tax year, but this was around £6 billion less than in 2021/2022. Brits were putting more money into cash ISAs than the previous tax year, however, with a whopping £41.6 billion put into these accounts – over £10 billion more than the £30.9 billion subscribed in 2021/2022.
Interestingly, in 2021/2022, more money was subscribed to stocks and shares ISAs than cash ISAs. The amount subscribed to cash ISAs had been decreasing steadily, perhaps because interest rates were lower, making cash ISAs less attractive. However, once interest rates began increasing again in 2022 and 2023, Brits were once again placing more money in cash ISAs and less in investment ISAs.
What is the average stocks and shares ISA balance?
Over the last 5 years, the average amount subscribed to a stocks and shares ISA was £8,737. In the 2022/2023 financial year, this was slightly lower at £7,355.
What is the average cash ISA balance?
The average subscription per account for a cash ISA over the past 5 years is lower than a stocks and shares ISA, at just £4,881. However, the average subscription in 2022/2023 was £5,296, almost £1,000 more than the average subscription in the previous tax year.
The average subscription per account for a cash ISA has historically been lower than a stocks and shares ISA. This may be related to a number of reasons, such as the disposable income of those subscribing to a stocks and shares ISA, a larger number of people subscribing to cash ISAs, or worse than typical interest rates on cash ISAs during this period.
George is a deputy editor at Finder. He has previously written for The Motley Fool UK, Nasdaq, Freetrade, Investing in the Web, MoneyMagpie, Online Mortgage Advisor, Wealth, and Compare Forex Brokers. He's focused on making personal finance and investing engaging for everyone. To do this he draws from previous work and his Level 4 Diploma for Financial Advisers (DipFA), sharing what he’s learnt. When he’s not geeking out about money, you’ll find him playing sports and staying active. See full bio
George's expertise
George has written 190 Finder guides across topics including:
Sophie Barber is a content marketing manager for Finder in the UK after previously working as a content manager at a digital marketing agency. She has over 5 years experience in writing and publishing clear, concise and informative online articles for a variety of websites. See full bio
Sophie's expertise
Sophie has written 77 Finder guides across topics including:
Publishing original personal finance research
Creating data-led statistics pages to highlight industry trends
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