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.
Share your opinions to win prizes or earn cash!
Share your opinions to win!
Sign up to receive deals and tips, plus opportunities to win prizes for your opinions and experiences! (T&Cs)
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 185 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 75 Finder guides across topics including:
Publishing original personal finance research
Creating data-led statistics pages to highlight industry trends
What is the best investment in 202? See how different types of investments have performed so far this year and learn more about them.
How likely would you be to recommend Finder to a friend or colleague?
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Very UnlikelyExtremely Likely
Required
Thank you for your feedback.
Our goal is to create the best possible product, and your thoughts, ideas and suggestions play a major role in helping us identify opportunities to improve.
Advertiser Disclosure
finder.com is an independent comparison platform and information service that aims to provide you with the tools you need to make better decisions. While we are independent, the offers that appear on this site are from companies from which finder.com receives compensation. We may receive compensation from our partners for placement of their products or services. We may also receive compensation if you click on certain links posted on our site. While compensation arrangements may affect the order, position or placement of product information, it doesn't influence our assessment of those products. Please don't interpret the order in which products appear on our Site as any endorsement or recommendation from us. finder.com compares a wide range of products, providers and services but we don't provide information on all available products, providers or services. Please appreciate that there may be other options available to you than the products, providers or services covered by our service.
We update our data regularly, but information can change between updates. Confirm details with the provider you're interested in before making a decision.
