If it felt like everyone you know stuffed cash into their ISA last year, you are not imagining it. HM Revenue and Customs reported on Wednesday that contributions landed in a record 16.8 million Adult ISAs in 2024-25, up from 15 million the year before. That jump marked the quickest expansion in participation since the pandemic era.
Savers funneled roughly £135.7 billion, or $182.8 billion, into ISAs across the year. Cash ISAs drew £95.6 billion of that total, and 10.7 million cash accounts received contributions. Even so, cash's share edged down to 64% from 66% the previous year.
The equity side accelerated. In 2025, another 802,000 stocks-and-shares ISAs were funded, taking the total to 4.89 million. Fresh money into stocks-and-shares ISAs was also up by almost 20% from the prior year.
A steady savings habit can protect your goals through changing financial seasons. Join Briefs Finance CEO Jaspreet Singh on September 29th for a FREE live investor workshop, How to Profit From A Dollar That's Losing its Value, where he shows how we're spotting investment opportunities as the dollar falls. Save your spot.
Policy tweaks are nudging behavior. The government used the last budget to tighten tax-free cash limits with the aim of pushing more saving toward investments. People under 65 can place up to £20,000 a year into ISAs, but starting in April, just £12,000 of that total may be held as cash.
Sarah Coles, who leads personal finance at AJ Bell, said some savers moved early into cash in anticipation of the reduced cap. "Ironically, a move that was intended to encourage people to move from savings to investing managed to dramatically increase the amount being saved," she said. "Enthusiasm for stocks-and-shares ISAs was also fired up by impressive investment performance during the year, with global and US stock markets delivering double-digit gains."
Net of the policy fine print, the takeaway is simple: more people are using the ISA wrapper, both for cash and for markets. If rates stay high and equities keep delivering, expect that split to keep shifting - and for your ISA choices to matter a bit more each tax year.
Keeping a clear plan for your money helps you grow and sleep better. Our CEO Jaspreet Singh is hosting a FREE live investor workshop, How to Profit From A Dollar That's Losing its Value, on September 29th. Sign up free to join him live.
