ING survey: Britain tops the European savings league By Lee Boyce Despite facing up to record low cash Isa, easy-access and fixed savings rates, more British savers grew their nest eggs than our European neighbours did last year. An improving British economic outlook, including rising house prices and unemployment reducing, boosted household saving, according to Dutch bank ING. It found 32 per cent of British savers squirreled away an increasing amount of money last year, more than the 12 other countries surveyed - and higher than the European average of 21 per cent. But although we topped the league for increasing our savings pots, we didn't save the most. British savers stashed away €1,016 in the last three months, fourth behind Luxembourg, Germany and Spain, but higher than the European average of €836. Savings boom: According to a survey of 12k Europeans, an increasing number of Britons grew their nest eggs last year ING questioned more than 12,000 Europeans about their spending and saving intentions and it revealed a much more positive outlook in Britain than other nations, particularly those in the Eurozone. The United Kingdom was rated fourth in terms of "savings comfort" with 35 per cent saying that they felt happy with the funds they have in place while fewer Britons say that their savings levels have fallen than any nation apart from Turkey. But despite these positive figures, the study also suggests that Britons could do more to ensure their financial security. A third have only enough savings to support them for three months if needed while more than a quarter worryingly have no savings whatsoever. Those without savings tend to rely on credit to see them through unexpected financial problems - across the whole of Europe, 30 per cent of those without savings have credit card debt compared with 18 per cent for those with savings. Credit cards are the most common type of personal (non-mortgage) debt in the UK, while personal loans and overdrafts are preferred in most other European countries. The findings suggest that a better economic outlook may be improving Britons" ability to save. There has been a noticeable fall in the number saying that the current economic situation is affecting their finances - 35 per cent now compared to 44 per cent in the last survey in mid-2013. Healthy savings: The average British saver stashed away more than £1,000 in the last three months Ian Bright, senior economist at ING, said: "An improving economic picture is giving British consumers an edge over others in Europe in terms of their ability to save. However, the UK still has some of the highest levels of personal debt in the developed world, so you could argue that they have a bigger mountain to climb in terms of establishing prudent finances than their fellow Europeans. The news might be a surprise to savers who have seen savings rates plummet in recent years. Last year was a miserable one for savings with the added blow of the Funding for Lending Scheme. This allowed banks and building societies to tap into cheap money directly from the Government rather than rely on attracting savers. Despite Funding for Lending now winding down and a clutch of experts saying this year should be better for savers, rates have failed to budge. In fact, the best buy one, two and three year fix from Shawbrook Bank was stripped away last week. The best buys across all types of savings accounts are now at some of the lowest levels ever seen. The best buy cash Isa is 1.8 per cent from the Post Office, easy-access 1.6 per cent from Coventry Building Society and top two year fix is 2.35 per cent from FirstSave.