Fewer Scots saving as living costs rise

More than a third of Scots are failing to put any money aside as rising living costs eat into incomes, figures out today show.

The number of Scots not saving has risen 12 per cent since 2009, according to the annual Scottish Widows Savings and Investments Report - an extra half a million people not saving. Of those, seven in ten blame inflation. Of the Scots who have saved money, a third have saved less than 1,000 in the past year.

But the number of non-savers is rising more slowly in Scotland than south of the Border. The number not saving in England has risen from 20 per cent to 37 per cent since 2009; Wales has seen a 15 per cent jump to 36 per cent in the number of non-savers over the same period.