New Year’s resolution statistics

How many people make New Year's resolutions and what are the most common?

3 in 4 Brits will be making New Year’s resolutions for 2025 – an estimated 40 million people. Whether it’s a promise to save more or get healthy, read on to discover the most common goals Brits will set in the new year.

New Year’s resolution statistics: Highlights

  • 3 in 4 Brits (74%) will be setting themselves New Year’s resolutions for 2025, which is around 40 million people.
  • 1 in 3 Brits (32%) will make a money resolution for 2024.
  • 96% of generation Z (aged 18-27) will be making resolutions for 2025, compared to just 35% of the silent generation (aged 79+).
  • Almost half of generation Z and millenials (46%) will make a money-related resolution for 2024.
  • Londoners are the most likely to make a New Year’s resolution, with 87% doing so.

How many people make New Year’s resolutions in the UK?

According to our survey, 3 in 4 Brits (74%) will be setting themselves New Year’s resolutions in 2025. That’s roughly 40 million people taking deliberate steps to better themselves as the year kicks off. There are 8% more people, or approximately 5 million, making resolutions this year compared to last year, when 66% of the UK population set goals for 2024.

Year Number of people making New Year's resolutions
2022 28 million
2023 30 million
2024 35 million
2025 40 million

What are the most common New Year’s resolutions in the UK?

The most common New Year’s resolutions in the UK for 2024 are related to health, with around 2 in 5 people (43%) keen to improve their physical and mental wellbeing. Money is the second most popular category for New Year’s resolutions, with 1 in 3 people (32%) setting goals in this area, closely followed by 3 in 10 people (30%) making family-related resolutions.

Career goals are not so much of a priority for Brits, with only 15% making this the focus of their New Year’s Resolutions. Love is also one of the least popular categories, but 1 in 5 Brits (20%) still intend to focus on this area.

Resolution Percentage
Health 43%
Money 32%
Family 30%
Self-improvement 26%
Travel 22%
Love 20%
Career 15%

The number of New Year’s resolutions by generation

Our data shows that the older respondents get, the less likely they are to make a New Year’s resolution. While a whopping 96% of generation Z (aged 18-27) and 91% of millenials (aged 28-43) will be making resolutions for 2025, this drops to 73% for generation X (aged 44-59), 52% for baby boomers (aged 60-78) and 35% for the silent generation (aged 79 and over).

Generation Percentage making New Year's resolutions
Gen Z 96%
Millenials 91%
Gen X 73%
Baby Boomers 52%
Silent Generation 35%

Generation Z is most focused on money in 2025, with almost half (46%) of respondents having New Year’s resolutions related to their finances, the most popular of all the categories. The picture is similar for millennials, as 46% will also be making money-related resolutions.

The issue of money becomes less important for the older generations. 30% of generation X, 14% of baby boomers and just 10% of the silent generation gave money as a focus for their New Year’s resolutions.

The number of New Year’s resolutions by region

Londoners are the most likely to set a New Year’s resolution for 2025, with an impressive 87% making some kind of goal for the New Year. They are followed by residents in Northern Ireland, with 84% setting a resolution, and those in the North West of England, with 76% setting a resolution.

Meanwhile, those in the North East and Yorkshire are less motivated to get involved with the New Year’s resolution hype – with 68% of the former and 69% of the latter setting goals for 2025.

Region Percentage making New Year's resolutions
Greater London 87%
Northern Ireland 84%
North West 76%
South West 74%
Wales 73%
South East 73%
Scotland 72%
West Midlands 72%
East of England 71%
East Midlands 71%
Yorkshire and The Humber 69%
North East 68%

Methodology

Finder commissioned Censuswide to carry out a nationally representative survey of adults aged 18+. A total of 2,000 people were questioned throughout Great Britain between 4 December and 6 December 2024, with representative quotas for gender, age and region.

Click here for more research. For all media enquiries, please contact –

Matt Mckenna
UK Head of Communications
T: +44 20 8191 8806

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