By skyforbes 
The United Kingdom’s difficult relationship with stocks and shares appears to have turned a corner in recent years as investors begin downloading retail trading apps in their droves.
Sentiment towards stock market investing has grown significantly in the face of the recent artificial intelligence boom on Wall Street, which has seen the S&P 500 almost double in value in just five years. Despite UK investors being more cautious when it comes to perceived riskier investment strategies, higher numbers of users are flocking to trading apps to embrace stocks and shares.
According to Fintech Global data, UK trading app downloads increased by a little over 50% year-over-year (YoY) in 2024, with combined total downloads reaching 20.4 million as of the first half of 2025.
This newfound positive sentiment towards stocks appears to be focused on markets in the United States as UK investors build their confidence that their portfolios can support stronger long-term returns.
Investors who are engaged with stocks and shares can help to bring a boost to the UK economy, argues Lisa Kidd Hunt, who is Managing Director, Head of International Services, for Charles Schwab.
Hunt suggests that a more optimistic outlook among US investors has seen the success of companies like Amazon and Apple and used them as inspiration to invest their way to prosperity. In turn, the positive outlook towards stocks among investors in the United States has been supported by a nation that’s long celebrated entrepreneurship, innovation, and risk-taking.
The UK’s slower recovery from the global financial crisis has dampened sentiment towards stocks and shares. However, signs of a resurgence in investor appetite for trading could help to improve the outlook for domestic companies and foster growth across different sectors.
Recent data shows that the improving perceptions of stocks and shares in the United Kingdom have been long overdue.
Overcoming Scepticism
Worryingly, a recent survey from The Investment Association and Opinium found that 17% of UK adults claimed to have never heard of a Stocks and Shares ISA, while one quarter of those who have heard of the investment product don’t know anything about it.
However, when it comes to analysing those who already hold investment products, the number of adults who say they’ve never heard of a Stock and Shares ISA falls to just 2%.
This long-standing scepticism towards investing suggests that the United Kingdom has long been a nation of savers.
According to a recent survey, 41% of people in the UK identified as savers, rather than investors, despite 74% of respondents contributing to a workplace pension scheme that’s likely to consist of investments.
Among respondents who are also pension holders, almost 17% felt as though investing was something only professionals did, while 15% believed that the practice was reserved only for the extremely wealthy, despite being investors themselves.
Unlocking the Potential of Investing
The news that far more UK retail investors are downloading trading apps should be welcomed as good news for improving the wealth of residents.
Although investing is rightfully associated with greater risks than saving, history suggests that investors have long benefited from higher returns than savers.
Using Junior ISA returns as an example, the past 20 years have provided an average annual return of 9.64% for Stocks and Shares JISAs, while their saving-focused Cash equivalent has returned just 1.85% in comparison.
2025 appears to be a positive year for UK investors to embrace stocks, with the Bank of America’s Global Fund Manager Survey showing that global equity allocations for September climbed to a seven-month high even as average cash balances held steady at 3.9% for the third month in a row.
This suggests that optimism is continuing to grow in the United States, which can help UK investors to trade American stocks with greater confidence.
Growing confidence could be driven further by new government initiatives that focus on improving financial awareness among UK investors.
Measures known as the ‘Leeds reforms’, introduced by Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves, are helping improve the understanding of investors surrounding financial products like exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The measures will also seek to supply a new education programme backed by industry participants in 2026.
The Future of UK Retail Trading
Financial literacy may provide a real competitive advantage when it comes to boosting the confidence of UK retail investors who remain largely sceptical about stocks and shares.
While more work needs to be done in proving that the upsides associated with investing can regularly outweigh the risks attached to buying and selling stocks and equities, initiatives to improve investor awareness could be crucial in emulating the investor confidence regularly shown in the United States.
With more investors in the UK downloading trading apps, it’s clear that residents are waking up to the potential of stocks and shares. The benefits associated with this newfound confidence can help to provide an economic boost to the economy as a whole and should be supported further by the government.