UK Stocks & Shares ISA Statistics 2026

Key UK Stocks & Shares ISA Statistics 2026

• 4.09 million Stocks & Shares ISA accounts were subscribed to in 2023/24 — the highest on record since the ISA launched in 1999, up 7.4% year-on-year.
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• £31.1 billion was subscribed into Stocks & Shares ISAs in 2023/24 — a 10.9% year-on-year increase of £3.1 billion.
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• £7,594 was the average Stocks & Shares ISA subscription per account in 2023/24, compared to £6,993 for Cash ISAs.
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• £511 billion is the estimated total market value of UK Stocks & Shares ISAs — 58.6% of the £872 billion total ISA market.
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• 17% of UK adults — approximately 9.3 million people — held a Stocks & Shares ISA in 2024. Men (22%) are far more likely to hold one than women (13%).
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• 2.2 to 1 is the ratio by which Cash ISA inflows outpaced S&S ISAs in 2023/24 — £69.5bn vs £31.1bn — as higher interest rates drew savers back to cash.
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• 9.64% per year is the average 10-year return on Stocks & Shares ISAs, compared to just 1.21% for Cash ISAs over the same period.
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• 5,070 ISA millionaires existed in the UK as of 5 April 2023 — a 1,026% increase since 2016 — almost all via Stocks & Shares ISAs.
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• £547 billion is held across 12.9 million accounts in the UK's DIY investment platform market as of Q3 2025 — double the 2020 figure.
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• From April 2027, Cash ISA contributions for under-65s will be capped at £12,000 — directing at least £8,000 of unused allowance toward Stocks & Shares ISAs.
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How Many People Have a Stocks & Shares ISA in the UK?

In 2024, 17% of UK adults — approximately 9.3 million people — held a Stocks & Shares ISA, according to the FCA Financial Lives Survey 2024 (published May 2025, fieldwork February–June 2024, 17,950 respondents). This figure has remained broadly stable since 2022.

By contrast, 32% of UK adults held a Cash ISA — nearly double the S&S ISA rate. The gap has widened since 2022 (when Cash ISA ownership was 28%) as higher savings rates drew cautious savers back to deposit accounts.

On the HMRC subscription measure — which counts accounts receiving at least one contribution in a tax year — 4.09 million accounts were subscribed in 2023/24, the highest figure since the Stocks & Shares ISA was introduced in 1999. This represents a 7.4% increase on the 3.81 million subscribed accounts in 2022/23.

Source: FCA Financial Lives Survey 2024: Consumer Investments — Selected Findings, published May 2025. HMRC Annual Savings Statistics, September 2025.

S&S ISA Subscriptions Have Grown 69% Since 2018/19

The number of Stocks & Shares ISA accounts being subscribed to annually has grown substantially over the past six years, driven by the pandemic investing boom, the democratisation of investing through low-cost platforms, and rising financial awareness among younger adults.

The data reveals a structural shift in the ISA market. S&S ISA subscriptions rose from £22.3 billion in 2018/19 to a peak of £34.2 billion in 2021/22 — a 53% increase driven by the pandemic investing boom and near-zero cash savings rates. They then fell back to £28.0 billion in 2022/23 as rising interest rates made Cash ISAs more attractive, before recovering to £31.1 billion in 2023/24.

Most striking is what happened to Cash ISAs. After four years of declining inflows (falling to just £30.9 billion in 2021/22), Cash ISA subscriptions surged to £69.5 billion in 2023/24 — a 125% increase in two years. Total ISA subscriptions hit £103.0 billion in 2023/24, the highest on record, with S&S ISAs accounting for just 30.2% of that total — down from 51.1% in 2021/22.

Source: HMRC Annual Savings Statistics, September 2025; HMRC Annual Savings Statistics, September 2024. gov.uk

"The S&S ISA share of new ISA subscriptions collapsed from 51% in 2021/22 to 30% in 2023/24 — not because investors fell out of love with equities, but because two decades of near-zero cash rates ended in the space of 18 months. As the Bank of England cuts back through 2026 and the April 2027 Cash ISA cap bites, we expect the equity share to climb back toward 40% — slower than it fell, but structurally upward."

— Adam Woodhead, Senior Analyst, The Investors Centre

The UK S&S ISA Market is Worth £511 Billion

The cumulative market value of all Stocks & Shares ISAs held in the UK reached approximately £511 billion at the end of the 2023/24 tax year — an 18.7% increase from the prior year's £430 billion. This figure reflects investment returns as well as new contributions, and represents decades of compounded growth since the ISA was launched in 1999.

The total UK ISA market is approaching £1 trillion in value. Including Junior ISAs (£12.5 billion) and other ISA types, the market stood at approximately £884 billion at the end of 2023/24. AJ Bell analysis suggests the £1 trillion milestone could be reached within 2–3 years at current growth rates.

The Exchequer cost of all ISA tax relief was approximately £9.4 billion in 2024/25, according to HM Treasury estimates. This figure has grown rapidly as Cash ISA balances have surged — the relief on Cash ISAs alone rose from around £70 million in 2021/22 to an estimated £2.1 billion in 2024/25.

Source: HMRC Annual Savings Statistics, September 2025; AJ Bell analysis; HM Treasury, Autumn Budget 2025.

Who Has a Stocks & Shares ISA? Demographics by Age, Gender and Income

Stocks & Shares ISA ownership increases significantly with age. Only 9% of UK adults aged 18–24 hold one, rising to 29% of adults aged 75 and over. This pattern reflects both the longer investment horizons of older investors and the accumulated wealth that makes equity investment accessible — and it sits at the heart of the long-running ISA versus pension debate for retirement planning.

The gender split is one of the starkest features of S&S ISA ownership. Men (22%) are 69% more likely than women (13%) to hold a Stocks & Shares ISA, according to FCA data. This gap persists across all age groups, peaking in the 55–64 bracket where the average S&S ISA balance difference is estimated at £6,040.

Income is a strong predictor of S&S ISA ownership. Just 5% of adults earning under £15,000 annually hold a Stocks & Shares ISA, compared to 28% of those earning over £50,000. Similarly, homeowners who own outright are four to five times more likely to hold an S&S ISA (32%) than private renters (7%).

Source: FCA Financial Lives Survey 2024: Consumer Investments — Selected Findings, published May 2025. fca.org.uk

Only 22.7% of ISA Subscribers Used Their Full £20,000 Allowance

In 2022/23, just 22.7% of all ISA subscribers put in the maximum £20,000 annual allowance, according to HMRC data. The proportion varied enormously by income — 59.9% of those earning £150,000 or more maxed out their allowance, compared to a small fraction of median earners.

The most common contribution band was £1–£2,499, accounting for 41.9% of all subscribers. This suggests that for the majority of ISA savers, the annual allowance is not a binding constraint — the barrier to higher contributions is income, not awareness.

The average S&S ISA subscription of £7,594 in 2023/24 represents 38% of the £20,000 annual allowance. For context, the Investment Association's 2024 ISA Barometer survey (1,000 retail investors, March 2024) found the average planned S&S ISA contribution for 2024/25 was £8,695 — up 23% year-on-year.

Source: HMRC Commentary for Annual Savings Statistics, September 2025, Table 9.7; Investment Association ISA Barometer Survey 2024.

Hargreaves Lansdown, AJ Bell and Interactive Investor Dominate the S&S ISA Market

The UK DIY investment platform market reached £547 billion in assets across 12.9 million customer accounts by Q3 2025, according to Boring Money research — more than double the £228 billion and 5.9 million accounts recorded in Q1 2020. Three platforms account for the majority of assets, with Hargreaves Lansdown, AJ Bell and Interactive Investor together holding an estimated 65–70% of UK D2C investment assets. Anyone comparing investment platforms for a Stocks & Shares ISA is typically choosing between these three and a handful of lower-cost challengers.

The average Hargreaves Lansdown ISA investor portfolio was £59,600 at end-2024. Interactive Investor reported 1,607 ISA millionaires on its platform as of February 2025 — up 61% in 12 months — while Hargreaves Lansdown counted 1,322 ISA millionaires by December 2024.

Robo-advisers — managed investment services including Nutmeg, Moneyfarm, and Wealthify — have captured approximately 21% of DIY investor accounts (over 2 million of 9.8 million), according to Boring Money's 2025 market research. Their share has risen steadily as lower minimum investments and automated rebalancing have attracted younger, less experienced investors.

Source: Boring Money, DIY Investor Market Report, Q3 2025; AJ Bell FY25 Results; Interactive Investor FY2025 Results; Hargreaves Lansdown Investor Relations.

"The UK DIY investment market is a three-horse race at the top — HL, AJ Bell and Interactive Investor control roughly two-thirds of all assets — but the growth is happening underneath them. Vanguard and the robo-advisers have taken a fifth of the account base in under a decade, mostly from first-time investors who never considered Hargreaves. The next five years will be about cost compression: the incumbents can't hold premium fees against challengers serving a generation that grew up expecting zero-commission trading."

— Adam Woodhead, Senior Analyst, The Investors Centre

The Passive Investing Revolution: Index Trackers Captured £28 Billion in 2024

The shift from active to passive investing has fundamentally altered the S&S ISA market. Index trackers now account for 25.7% of total UK fund AUM — up from 18% in 2020 — and attracted a record £28 billion in net retail inflows in 2024, while active funds saw net outflows of £29.4 billion.

Six of the ten most-bought funds within Hargreaves Lansdown's Stocks & Shares ISA during 2024/25 were passive trackers, led by the UBS S&P 500 Index Fund, Legal & General US Index, and Fidelity Index World Fund. Vanguard — which operates exclusively in index funds — has grown to approximately 600,000 UK customers and £38 billion in AUM since launching in 2017.

Asset allocation within UK investor fund holdings breaks down as: 55.1% equities (of which just 10.2% is UK equity, down from 25.1% a decade ago), 16.7% fixed income, and around 14–17% mixed asset. UK equity funds have seen £59.7 billion in net outflows over 2016–2024 as investors rotate into global and US market trackers.

Source: The Investment Association, Investment Management Survey 2024–25, Chapter 5, published October 2025.

Stocks & Shares ISAs Have Returned 9.64% Per Year Over 10 Years — Versus 1.21% for Cash ISAs

The long-run performance advantage of Stocks & Shares ISAs over Cash ISAs is well-documented. Over the last 10 years, the average Stocks & Shares ISA returned 9.64% per year, compared to just 1.21% for Cash ISAs. Over five years, the comparison was 6.37% versus 2.08%.

AJ Bell analysis puts this in pound-and-pence terms: £1,000 invested in a UK stocks fund at ISA launch in 1999 would be worth £3,787 by September 2025 — versus just £2,079 in a Cash ISA. A regular investor contributing £1,000 per year since 1999 would have £67,866 in a UK stocks tracker, £92,000 in a global stocks tracker, or £127,887 in a US stocks tracker — compared to £36,290 in cash.

The Barclays Equity Gilt Study (70th edition, May 2025) provides the deepest historical context. Over 124 years (1899–2023), UK equities delivered 4.94% real annualised returns versus 0.51% for cash. Crucially, equities have outperformed cash in 91% of all 10-year rolling periods — meaning that for investors with a decade-long horizon, cash has rarely been the better choice.

Source: Finder.com / Moneyfarm analysis 2025; Barclays Equity Gilt Study, 70th edition, May 2025 via Courtiers Wealth Management.

There Are 5,070 ISA Millionaires in the UK — Up 1,026% Since 2016

The number of ISA millionaires — individuals holding more than £1 million in a single ISA portfolio — reached a record 5,070 as of 5 April 2023, according to HMRC data obtained through Freedom of Information requests. This compares to just 450 ISA millionaires in 2016, representing a 1,026% increase in seven years.

The average ISA millionaire's portfolio was worth £1,346,000, with the top 25 ISA investors averaging £11.3 million each. The typical ISA millionaire is 73 years old and 67% are male — reflecting both the time required to compound a portfolio to seven figures and the broader gender gap in S&S ISA ownership.

At the platform level, Interactive Investor reported 1,607 ISA millionaires on its platform as of February 2025, up 61% in a year — driven by strong market performance in 2024. Hargreaves Lansdown counted 1,322 ISA millionaires by December 2024. ISA millionaires on the ii platform invested primarily in individual UK shares (80%), investment trusts (60%), and global equity funds.

Source: HMRC FOI data via MoneyWeek, November 2025; Interactive Investor, March 2025.

The UK Has £101 Billion Sitting in Cash ISAs That Could Be Invested

Despite the long-run performance advantage of Stocks & Shares ISAs, the FCA's Financial Lives 2024 survey found that 61% of UK adults with £10,000 or more in investible assets held all or most (75%+) of their money in cash as of 2024 — up from 55% in 2020.

AJ Bell analysis identified approximately 4.5 million adults who hold more than £10,000 in Cash ISAs but nothing in a Stocks & Shares ISA, with around 3 million Cash ISA holders sitting on balances above £20,000 with no investments at all — a collective pot of at least £101 billion in excess cash.

Internationally, UK households allocate just 19% of household financial assets to retail investments, compared to 38% in the EU and 56% in the United States (New Financial, 2025). This investment gap carries a cost: Morningstar estimates that UK investors forfeited approximately 122 basis points per year — or around 15% of total potential returns — over the decade to December 2024, through poor timing and fund selection decisions.

Source: FCA Financial Lives Survey 2024; AJ Bell analysis; New Financial, cited in FCA PS25/22, December 2025; Morningstar via Barclays Private Bank.

TIC Analysis: The S&S ISA Wealth Gap — What Investing Instead of Saving Has Cost UK Adults

No UK source publishes a comprehensive calculation of the aggregate wealth foregone by Cash ISA holders who could have invested in Stocks & Shares ISAs. TIC has modelled this for three representative investor profiles to illustrate the real-world impact of the cash vs equity choice.

The TIC modelling shows that a moderate investor contributing £10,000 per year for 10 years to a Cash ISA would have accumulated approximately £112,800 by April 2025. The same contributions to a Stocks & Shares ISA would have generated approximately £171,400 — a wealth gap of £58,600 from a decade of cautious saving. For the 4.5 million UK adults identified by AJ Bell as holding £10,000+ in Cash ISAs with no investments, the collective unmade wealth is conservatively estimated at tens of billions of pounds.

"A £58,600 wealth gap on £100,000 of contributions is not a hypothetical — it's what a moderate UK saver actually left on the table by staying in cash over the last decade. Scale that across the 4.5 million Cash ISA holders sitting on £10,000-plus with no equity exposure, and you are looking at tens of billions of pounds of unmade household wealth. The April 2027 Cash ISA cap is, in effect, the first serious policy intervention designed to shrink that gap by forcing the investment decision rather than waiting for savers to make it voluntarily."

— Adam Woodhead, Senior Analyst, The Investors Centre

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