Britons are saving more than three times as much of their incomes than they were putting away fifty years ago, according to figures released yesterday.

UK savers have managed to amass £44 billion in savings, says National Savings & Investments (NS&I), the Government-backed savings organisation that conducted the research.

The findings of the Century of Saving report into Briton’s savings habits, which compared figures from 1957 with 2007, found that more households are saving regularly and a higher proportion of disposable income is being squirreled away.

The total amount of savings has increased from £1.1 billion half a century ago to £43.9 billion in 2007, despite soaring living costs and a higher level of debt.

The think tank Future Foundation, which conducted research for the report, believes that increased wealth and a more sophisticated understanding of the savings market is behind the rise in the overall levels of cash stored in savings accounts.

The report found that around 43 per cent of households are now managing to save regularly, compared to 37 per cent in 1957. The amount of disposal income put to one side has also increased, from 1.5 per cent in 1957 to 5 per cent in 2007.

The report predicts that Britons will continue to embrace the habit of saving in the future, increasing the amount of disposable income being saved from 5 per cent today to 7 per cent by 2050. The milestone, when there are more households choosing to save than not at all, will be reached in 2057, the report predicts, when an estimated £150 billion will be saved.

There will also be a rapid expansion of internet and mobile banking, with 98 per cent of banking transactions occurring remotely by 2057, compared with 40 per cent today.

Dax Harkins, NS&I’s senior savings strategist, said: "Advances in technology, over the last half century such as telephone and internet banking, have made it easier for savers.

“We expect future developments will play a part in boosting the future savings ratio by making new products possible and allowing new ways to access them using using convergence products such as Apple's iPhone."

The optimistic findings contradict a report from the Office of National Statistics released on Monday, which found that families were under more financial pressure, in the form of mortgage repayments, energy bills and council tax, than half a century ago.

The Family Spending report found that families now spend a fifth of their budget on mortgage bills or rent, compared with only 8.7 per cent in 1957.

The average household today owes £56,234, including mortgages, according to Credit Action, a debt charity.

Sue Hannums, of AWD Chase de Vere, an independent financial adviser, said: “The figures from NS&I are not the whole story.It is possible that the rich may be getting richer, and saving more, but there could be an underclass of people who are not saving enough and are overburdened with debt.

“If you look back 50 years we may not have been savings as much but then again debt was far lower and not nearly as prevalent.”

The Century of Saving report suggests that almost half of consumers now save for no specific reason, unlike 50 year ago when expensive routine events like Christmas were the cause of most household's saving habits. £1.1 billion in today’s money was kept in savings accounts in 1957, compared to £43.9 billion in 2007.

Claire Gorman, of NS&I, said: “The research demonstrates that the more fundamental motivations for saving are to provide long-term security for ourselves, and just now and then, for making dreams come true.”

Last month the Building Societies Association released figures showing £2.3 billion worth of deposits were made in November, triple the amount made to societies in the same month the year before. The boom in takings, which peaked in September and October, is attributed in part to the recent troubles at Northern Rock, which saw thousands of savers transfer cash from banks to mutual institutions<NO>, but also because of uncertainty in the stock market.