Australian investing statistics 2024

Tracking how many Australians are investing, who they are and what they’re investing in

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Patricia Cruz

Edited by

Moira Daniels

Updated

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Key takeaways

  • Nearly half of Australians now invest, with 24% making their first investment within two years.
  • Cash is Australia's most popular investment at 32%, followed by term deposits and company shares.
  • Millennials lead investing at 61%, while Gen Z prefers ETFs and the gender gap is closing.

The past few years have been a bumpy ride for investors with the wild swings in the stock market, rising property prices and an even more volatile crypto market. But even so, nearly half (48%) of the Australian adult population currently own investments. We will break down what investments are most popular with Australians and how their age or gender can change their investing habits.

Key Australian investment statistics

  • About a quarter (24%) of Aussie investors made their first investment within the past 2 years.
  • Cash is the most popular investment (32%) followed by term deposits (13%)
  • Men (54%) are more likely to invest than women (48%).
  • Millennials are the most likely generation to hold investments at 61%.
  • Aussie investments account for 25.8% of the nominal GDP in June 2024.

Aussie investors

51% of Australians hold investments

Most popular investment

32% of Aussies invest in cash

Gender gap

The gender gap is closing in investment participation

Male 54%
Female 48%

What are Australians investing in?

  • 51% of Australian adults, or an estimated 10.7 million people, currently have some form of investment outside their superannuation, according to Finder's October 2024 survey.
  • About a quarter (23%) of Aussie investors made their very first investment within the past 2 years and nearly a fifth (17%) said they invested all their spare cash in the early months of the pandemic.
  • Data from the CEIC suggests that Australian investments account for 26% of the nominal GDP in June 2024. That's higher than Canada (22%), the European Union (20%), the United States (21%) and the United Kingdom (17%).
  • Cash is the most popular investment among Australians, with 32% of Aussies counting cash in their savings accounts as an investment. This is followed by long-term cash savings like term deposits (13%) and shares in specific companies such as Apple or CBA (12%).
  • Meanwhile, the least popular investments among Aussies include peer-to-peer lending (P2P) at just 3%, Listed investment companies (LICs) (3%) and Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) at 4%.

What investments do Australians own?

What investments do Australians own?
Investment typeCount
Cash in a savings account32
Term deposit13
Shares in a specific company (e.g. Apple or CBA)12
Property (outside of primary residence)8
Exchange traded fund (ETFs)8
Managed/Index fund5
Commodities (e.g. gold or oil)4
Annuities4
Bonds4
Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT)3
Listed investment companies (LICs)3
Peer-to-peer lending (P2P)3
Source: Finder's investing statistics 2024

The investing gender gap is closing

  • Men are more likely than women to have investments, with 54% of men saying they own at least one investment compared to 48% of women.
  • The number of women investing has grown significantly since 2022 when only 39% of women said they held investments.
  • Men tend to have bigger, more diversified investment portfolios than women: 61% of men describe their portfolios as diversified compared to 45% of women.
  • Women are more risk averse, with 20% preferring investments with guaranteed returns compared to 14% of men.
  • Women list a wider range of challenges faced when investing compared to men, such as fear of investment under-performance (34% of women compared to 27% of men), fear of hidden fees (32% versus 27%) and information overload (30% versus 24%).

Australian investors by gender

Australian investors by gender
Gender20222024
Male5854
Female3948
Source: Finder's investing statistics 2024
  • Cash is king for both genders: 33% of men invest in cash while 31% of women do the same, making it the most popular investment choice for both groups.
  • Shares are the second most popular investment for men (14%) followed by term deposits (11%); slightly more women prefer term deposits (13%) than shares (11%).
  • Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are the third most popular investment for men (9%), while property (8%) rounds off the top 3 for women.

Australian investments by gender

Australian investments by gender
Investment typeFemaleMale
Annuities53
Bonds34
Cash in a savings account3133
Commodities (e.g. gold or oil)45
Exchange traded fund (ETFs)69
Listed investment companies (LICs)34
Managed/Index fund64
Peer-to-peer lending (P2P)33
Property (outside of primary residence)88
Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT)34
Shares in a specific company (e.g. Apple or CBA)1114
Term deposit1311
Source: Finder's investing statistics 2024

How do different generations invest?

In 2022, The older you were, the more likely you were to hold investments. However, now the younger generations are stepping up their financial game. Millennials are the most likely to own investments (61%). In fact, 43% of Australia's high value investors are aged 60 and above. They are then followed by generation Z (55%), baby boomers (49%) and gen X (40%) in terms of top investors.

Cash is the most popular investment across all generations and is especially popular with older Australians. Almost 2 in 5 (39%) baby boomers have cash investments, 33% for millennials, 31% for generation X and 25% for generation Z.

Interestingly, exchange-traded funds are the second most popular investment amongst gen Z with 11% of 18 to 28-year-olds investing in these funds.

Term deposits are the second most popular investment for baby boomers (18%) and millennials (17%) while shares in specific companies are second most popular options for gen X. The generations differ slightly less when it comes to the last spot in their top 3 investments.

Baby boomers place direct investment in company shares (14%) as their third most popular investment along with gen Z (9%) and gen Y (15%). Meanwhile it's term deposits for gen X (8%).

Top Australian investments by generation

Top Australian investments by generation
Investment typeBaby BoomersGen XGen YGen Z
Cash in a savings account39313325
Term deposit188177
Shares in a specific company (e.g. Apple or CBA)1411159
Property (outside of primary residence)65128
Exchange traded fund (ETFs)251211
Source: Finder's investing statistics 2024
To make sure you get accurate and helpful information, this guide has been edited by Moira Daniels as part of our fact-checking process.
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Patricia Cruz is a public relations professional at Finder. She has a Bachelor degree in Organizational Communication from the University of the Philippines Manila. See full bio

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