One in five people have nothing saved for their retirement and less than half have saved ‘adequately’, according to Scottish Widows.

The Institute of Financial Planning sponsor firm questioned over 5,000 people nationwide for its survey.

Only 46 per cent of respondents said they were saving enough for retirement, down from 51 per cent last year. Saving adequately is defined as those saving at least 12 per cent of their income or expecting their retirement income to come from a defined benefits pension.

The total pot for an average saver was around £150,000, which would provide an annual pension of £5,700. When this was topped up with state pension it reached £13,000 but this was far short of the £24,500 people were expecting to have.

Ian Naismith, head of pensions market development for Scottish Widows, said: “People failing to make any kind of provision for their later years are in a particularly precarious position.

“Some may think they may be able to fall back on state pension, property or a partner’s pension and whilst these options may provide some level of support, saving nothing for retirement could be a fast track to financial problems and poverty in later life.”

Reasons given for not saving for retirement were that other financial commitments such as paying off debts and living expenses were more important.

Those living in North East or South West were worst at saving for retirement while those in Yorkshire and the Humber and Scotland were best.

Tom McPhail, head of pensions research at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “The kind of messages we should be putting in front of every adult of working age are that it pays to save and that any delay just makes the hill steeper to climb.

“We need to recapture a savings culture in this country; we should all be thinking in terms of ‘for every £10 I earn, I’ll give £1 to my long-term savings’.”