UK consumers saving less as taxes squeeze incomes, data shows

Pre-budget uncertainty could have caused consumer spending to drop in the final quarter of 2025. Photograph: Westend61/Getty Images

UK consumers saved less money during the third quarter of the year as higher taxes squeezed disposable incomes.

The households’ saving ratio – which estimates the percentage of disposable income Britons save rather than spend – dropped 0.7 percentage points to 9.5%, the Office for National Statistics said. That is the lowest rate for more than a year.