The Irish attitude towards savings is increasingly positive, a new survey has shown.

According to the Nationwide UK (Ireland)/ESRI Savings Index, there has been a steady upward trend driven by personal attitudes towards saving and concerns about the economy.

The sub-index dealing with attitude has risen by four points, bringing it to a six-month average of 101.

The survey found people are less negative about how much they are saving each month, with 58 per cent saying they are saving less than they think they should, five per cent higher than the average level in the same six month period last year.

However, only 39 per cent save regularly, compared with 42 per cent in the same period in 2010. And the proportion of people who do not save at all has risen to 29 per cent from 26 per cent a year earlier.

A second sub-index, dealing with environment, has increased 17 points since January, with 31 per cent of people thinking that now is a good time to save.

A large proportion of consumers are saving as a precautionary measure. According to the index, almost half said they would use any extra cash each month to pay off their mortgage, while a further 39 per cent would save any surplus, and only 8 per cent would spend any spare cash.

“In the first half of 2011, the overall index is trending upwards and the main driver of this trend is concerns about the economic environment. This concern is encouraging positive attitudes towards saving in general even though we are seeing that some people appear to be unable to save,” said Nationwide UK (Ireland) managing director Brendan Synnott.

“In addition, while it is desirable from a government perspective to encourage consumer spending, there is no indication as yet of this becoming a reality.”