Savers and spenders: a global study

Researchers have conducted a study of savers and spenders across the globe (Finchannel.com, 2 May 2016). GfK asked over 27,000 internet users in 22 countries to answer a question about saving or spending. The question was how strongly do you agree or disagree with the statement: I want to enjoy life today and I will worry about savings and investments later.

The results showed that 34% of online users agreed with the statement – i.e. that they are spenders (12% agreed completely and 22% agreed somewhat).

About 38% of online users disagreed with the statement – i.e. that they are savers (14% strongly disagreed and 24% disagreed somewhat).

Hence, the savers and spenders were close, with savers slightly outnumbering spenders globally. A further 25% of participants in the study were neutral, and 3% didn’t know.

For women, 40% said they were savers and 33% said they would live life now and worry about saving and financial security later.

For men, 35% were savers and 36% were spenders.

Participants aged 20-29 years had the highest percentage of fun-lovers who preferred to save later. Of this age group 41% were spenders. The second highest age group who were spenders was the teenage cohort (15-19 years of age) at 37%, and the third highest group of spenders were those aged 30-39 years at 36%. About 26% of people aged 50-59 years and 26% of those aged 60+ years were spenders.

The savers increased fairly steadily with age, with 34% of teenagers (15-19 years) and 34% of 20-29 year olds were savers. Savers peaked at 43% for 50-59 year olds, with a decline after that to 42% of people over the age of 60 years.

Hong Kong was the only country where the majority of participants were savers. More than half of Hong Kong participants had a saver mindset, with 54% of savers. Second was the Czech Republic with 49% of savers, followed by Brazil with 45% of savers.

MARTINA NICOLLS is the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).