The report, which is conducted quarterly and questioned over 12,000 people, found that the average savings pot was now £14,198. This compared to the average amount last March of £11,427.

There was significant growth in the savings of those aged 65-74 who increased their savings pot from £15,543 to £20,713.

Aviva said this growth was likely to have come from improved savings habits, redundancy payouts and people taking lump-sums from annuities.

Almost £40 was being saved on a monthly basis, the highest level of monthly saving since January 2010 and up from £27.24 this time last year.

The long-term retired were saving the most per month at  £57 while pre-retirees saved the least.

The percentage of people who were not saving grew to 40 per cent, up from 36 per cent in December 2011.

Clive Bolton, at retirement director for Aviva, said: “That people are actively working to improve their savings ethic is excellent news.

“While savers are saving more, there still appears to be a hard-core of non-savers who either don’t have the money or the ambition to start saving so this really need to be addressed as soon as possible.”

The report also detailed a ‘financial fears index’ which showed over-55s were getting more worried about the rising cost of living and how they will cope with unexpected expenses but less worried about their return on investments.