The survey looks at the saving and spending habits of Europeans and aims to show rising or falling investment confidence over time.

The most popular methods of saving are pension funds, stocks and bonds, with nearly half of British respondents having a private pension - more than twice the Western European average of 21%. This could be attributed to Margaret Thatcher’s controversial reform of the welfare state during the 1980’s, designed to discourage a "culture of dependency". In comparison, only 4% of French and 3% of German respondents have set up their own pension fund, preferring instead to have life insurance policies.

In the coming 12 months, British respondents also expect to continue their good saving habits, with 83% expecting to save the same or more as last year.

Overall, the worst savers are the Central Europeans who have hardly any savings but if they came into money would invest it in life insurance. In Western Europe, the Italians are least inclined to save, with only a third saying they saved any money at all.

According to Richard Hudson, Managing Editor, The Wall Street Journal Europe, "Europeans have very different attitudes towards spending and saving and where they choose to invest their savings. On the whole, Europeans are surprisingly poor savers. More than half the households surveyed aren’t saving anything or are dipping into their savings in order to maintain their lifestyles. For all the talk of pension reform across the continent, most people are still looking to the government and company pensions, rather than their own investments, to support them in their old age."

Mark Hofmans, General Manager of GfK Ad hoc Research Worldwide, added "The Investment Barometer provides the first regular tracking of European consumer investment behaviour and attitudes. The first survey has certainly revealed some intriguing national anomalies and it will be interesting to see how these develop and change over time."

A total of 9,429 consumers in 12 countries were interviewed during March to mid-April 2001. In Western Europe, 7,270 consumers were interviewed in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the UK. In Central Europe, 2,159 individuals were interviewed in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland. In each country a nationally representative sample was drawn from the population of households. There is a 95% level of confidence that the results have a margin of error of an average plus or minus 3.5%,in each country. In Belgium, Italy and the Netherlands the interviews were conducted by telephone, in all other countries face-to-face. All participants in this survey make the financial decisions in their households. The survey will be staged every six months and published in The Wall Street Journal Europe.