A survey of 2,000 consumers has revealed a 45% year-on-year jump in the number of Britons who fear an economic crash following the Coronavirus pandemic will derail their retirement plans.

Economic crash has overtaken illness as the biggest concern people have to achieving their retirement goals.

Nearly a third of Britons (29%) fear a financial crash could hamper their retirement plans, according to the survey by wealth manager and Financial Planner Sanlam.

The survey uncovered a rise of 45% in the number of people who says a major economic crash is the biggest threat to their retirement goals (up from 20% in 2019).

When asked the same question in 2019, illness was cited as the biggest barrier among those surveyed (21%) but is now a concern for only 14% of respondents.

The survey for wealth manager and Financial Planner Sanlam also found that 25% or people say they are struggling to save enough monthly to hit their pension goal.

The results suggest the Coronavirus has caused significant concerns among pension savers about their retirement plans.

Those approaching retirement aged 55-64 were the most worried about the impact of an economic crash on their ability to hit their retirement goals. More than a third (34%) fear a crash is the biggest barrier to their plans, up from 22% in 2019.

The survey also found:

• An economic crash tops what men consider to be the biggest barrier to achieving their retirement goals with a third of men (33%) citing it as a concern compared to just under a quarter of women (24%).
• Struggling to save on a monthly basis was women’s biggest barrier to saving for retirement (28%). Just 22% of men cited this as a barrier.
• One in five Britons (19%) were not confident that they will achieve enough savings to retire when they want.

John White, chief executive of Sanlam‘s wealth division, said: “The outbreak of the Coronavirus and the subsequent public lockdown has shaken the UK economy to its core and our survey reveals the very real long-term financial concerns people now face.

“The sharp market falls we witnessed in March have alerted people to the damage an economic crash could wreak on pension pots, and understandably more people now fear that a wider, continued downturn could derail plans to retire when they want to.”

• An online survey was conducted by Atomik Research among 2,007 UK adults aged 18+ between 22 and 24 April.