NS&I’s Quarterly Savings Survey has tracked the amount people save since the autumn of 2004.

The most recent results, for the winter months of 2013, found that women are now saving a higher percentage of their income than men and that young people save more successfully as their older peers lose ground.

Brits saved an average of £101 a month over the winter, £3 more than in the autumn and £13 more than the spring of last year.

This is the fourth consecutive year that people have saved more in winter than they did in autumn.

As predicted in the last Quarterly Savings Survey, women have overtaken men in the savings race. This is just the eighth quarter where they have done so since the survey began.

Women save a higher percentage of their average income – 8.36 per cent compared to 7.84 per cent – but men still save more overall. Women saved £89 a month through the winter of 2013 compared to the average man’s monthly savings of £113.

The same percentage of men and women do not save anything at all. Just under a fifth of men and women no longer save anything each month – for women this represents a decrease of five per cent from this time last year, while the number of men no longer saving has increased by one per cent.

Young people save the highest proportion of their income. 16 to 24 year olds save an average of £95 per head, 11.33 per cent of their average monthly income.

Brits 45 and older are falling behind. Those aged 45 to 54 saved the least at £83 a month, 6.32 per cent of their monthly income. This figure is down from £90 in the autumn of 2013.