UK Gender Wealth Gap Widens in 2026 - but more women are investing

The Gender Investment Gap: participation continues to diverge

The gender investment gap has widened again this year. There are now 11 million male investors compared with 7.4 million women, meaning the gap has grown to 3.6 million people. This widening participation gap remains a key driver of the broader gender wealth gap in the UK.

Although more women are investing than ever – up 10%year on year – male investor growth continues to outpace female participation.

A further contributor is a shift among older women: in 2025, around 100,000 women aged 55+ exited investment markets or redeemed pension assets, partly due to uncertainty around tax and pension rules in the run‑up to last year’s Budget.

Younger women and investing: participation remains low

Among adults aged 18–44, 38% of men are investing compared with just 22% of women. This remains one of the clearest indicators of why the gender wealth gap continues to expand.

Women’s investing behaviour: participation rises, and assets grow

Despite the widening participation gap, there are positive signs. The number of female investors has risen significantly, and women who do invest are putting more money to work.

Average invested assets per investor have increased for women, while men’s remain broadly flat. Women’s average invested assets per capita have also risen, helping to narrow the overall wealth gap between male and female investors.

Participation gap widens, asset gap narrows

Even as the number of male investors continues to grow faster, the gap in total invested assets has shrunk, signalling that women who invest are increasing their financial firepower at a faster rate than men.

What this means for the future of the gender wealth gap

This year’s data shows a mixed picture:

• More men are entering the market, widening the participation gap

• Fewer older women are investing, adding to the disparity

• But women who do invest are increasing their invested assets faster than men

• The asset gap is narrowing, suggesting long‑term progress beneath the headline numbers

Holly Mackay, Boring Money CEO, comments:

“There are genuine green shoots of hope in the industry-wide data. The number of women investors has grown by 10% over the last year which is encouraging. However, as the Government looks to get more of us investing this year this gap needs more focus and deliberate attention. Wealth managers face a serious retention issue with older female clients who come into money from bereavement or divorce then look elsewhere as the relationship is lacking. And younger women are not adopting investing at the same pace as the guys – they are almost half as likely to invest which should be a huge wake-up call for providers.”

The 10% growth in female investors is undoubtedly movement in the right direction. But growth in isolation is not the same as closing a gap, and right now, the gap is widening. With regulatory pressure mounting and a government agenda explicitly focused on broadening investment participation through updates such as the incoming Leeds Reforms, there is a real opportunity for providers that make narrowing the gender investment gap a priority