With more women investing and using share trading platforms than ever before, we looked into the breakdown of how and why this is. We ran a survey on how many women invest or plan to invest as well as which investing apps are the most used by women.
According to our 2024 survey, around 2 in 5 women (42%) have invested before, which is an estimated 11.4 million women. This number has increased from 2023, when a third of women (32%) stated that they have invested at some point in their lives.
| Year | Women who have invested | Women who have never invested |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 42% | 58% |
| 2023 | 32% | 68% |
| 2022 | 28% | 72% |
The number of women investing has increased, according to the survey, but the number of men investing has also increased. While 2 in 5 women have invested (42%), around 3 in 5 men (60%) have held investments. This is an estimated 15.7 million men compared to 11.4 million women, meaning there is still a gender investing gap.
Stocks and shares are the most popular investment type among women. Our survey found that 1 in 5 women (20%) have invested in stocks and shares. This equates to around 5.3 million women in the UK.
Bonds were the next most popular investment type, with 12% of women holding them at some point. This was followed by funds (8%), cryptocurrencies (7%) and ready-made portfolios (5%).
Less popular investment types among women include ETFs (3%), ethical investments (3%), options/futures (3%), forex (2%) and CFDs (2%).
| Type of investment | Percentage of women who have invested |
|---|---|
| Stocks and shares | 19.72% |
| Bonds | 12.23% |
| Funds | 7.79% |
| Cryptocurrencies (e.g. Bitcoin) | 6.61% |
| Ready-made portfolios (such as Moneybox, Nutmeg, etc.) | 4.73% |
| ETFs (exchange-traded funds) | 2.56% |
| Ethical investments / ESG (environmental, social and governance) investments | 3.25% |
| Options/Futures | 2.66% |
| Forex (foreign exchange) | 2.07% |
| CFDs (contracts for difference) | 2.17% |
Matt Mckenna
UK Head of Communications
T: +44 20 8191 8806
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