The number of people who are putting money aside for a rainy day increased in July, despite a decline in the sentiment towards saving.

The proportion of those who do not save at all is 32.3 per cent compared to 35 per cent in June while the proportion of those who now save occasionally or regularly rose from 65 per cent in June to 68 per cent in July.

The Nationwide UK (Ireland)/ESRI Savings Index, which measures overall sentiment towards saving, decreased to 112 in July, from 116 in June. There was an increase of 5 per cent in the number of people who currently feel they are saving nowhere near as much as they feel they should be.

The survey found respondents over the age of 50, in particular, are feeling much more negative in July with 21 per cent now believing they save nowhere near what they should be.

However, the share of respondents who believe now is a good time to save increased in July to the level recorded in May, 35 per cent, which was the highest recorded since June 2011.

The data suggest that those who in June felt the environment for saving was “quite bad” are now feeling slightly more positive.

Brendan Synnott, managing director of Nationwide UK (Ireland), said the results suggest that respondents consider it a good time to save and are more inclined to save. However they continue to feel unhappy with the amount of money they are able to save from month to month.

He said the proportion of those over the age of 50 who are not saving at all continued to rise in July from 42.6 per cent in June to 47.4 per cent.

“The proportion of consumers in this age group saving occasionally or regularly has also declined from 57.5 per cent to 52.6 per cent,” he added.

This compares with 77.7 per cent of respondents under the age of 50 saving occasionally or regularly, an increase of 7 per cent in the month to July.