Retail Investing Statistics 2026: Key Trends, Numbers and Demographics

Retail investors are people who invest and manage their own money. Over the past decade they have become a larger part of stock markets around the world.

This article collects recent data on who they are, how much they hold, how they behave, and where growth is fastest. It draws on the World Economic Forum, JPMorganChase Institute, the AMF, Winterflood, NSE data, Investing.com, and academic research.

Some figures come from earlier years, so each one is dated. Sources use different methods, so numbers from different regions should not be compared directly.

Who Are Retail Investors?

Retail investors are people who invest and manage their own money. They use brokerage accounts, retirement accounts, online trading apps, and robo-advisors.

A 2018 Modern Trader report from Broker Notes looked at more than half a million participants. It found that the typical retail investor earns about $40,000 or €40,000 a year.

The same report found that 95% of retail investors live outside major financial centers. That means retail investing has been a global activity for years, and not just a Wall Street one.

Women have been a smaller part of the group. In 2018, about 1 in 7 investors was a woman. By 2023, 60% of women were investing in the stock market and 68% were saving in retirement portfolios.

These numbers show that the average retail investor is an ordinary earner. The data does not point to a small group of wealthy traders.

This matters because it changes who markets serve. Retail investing is not limited to people in New York or London, and it is not limited to high earners.

It also means the pool of potential investors is large. Any change in access, cost, or trust can reach people in many countries at once.

How Much of the Market Do Retail Investors Hold?

Retail investors now hold a large share of global money. One estimate says they controlled 52% of global assets under management in 2021, and that figure is projected to pass 61% by 2030.

Their share of daily trading has also grown. Bloomberg Intelligence reports that retail investors made up just above 10% of total trading volume in 2011 and more than 22% in 2021.

A paper by Kuzminsky and Ziemtsov (2024) says the retail share of trading volume has almost doubled. It also cites IBISWorld, which put the market for individual investors at $7.2 trillion at the start of 2023.

In the United States, the SEC reported that households owned $29 trillion in equities in 2020. That was more than 58% of the US equity market, held directly or through mutual funds and retirement accounts.

Money has also flowed in at a steady pace. Retail investors added a record average of $1.3 billion a day to the stock market in the first half of 2022.

Tesla drew the most retail money in 2023. Its net retail flows of $9.75 billion were larger than the next nine stocks and ETFs combined, at $8.5 billion.

The split between trading and long-term holding is worth keeping in mind. The trading share is a measure of daily activity, while the assets figure shows how much money is held over time.

Both rose, but they answer different questions. Trading share shows how often retail investors act, and assets show how much they own.

Younger Adults Are Starting Earlier

Young people are entering the market at a much earlier age. JPMorganChase Institute tracked how many people had moved money from a checking account to an investment account by age 25.

Among 25-year-olds in 2024, 37% had done so. In 2015 the figure was 6%, so participation rose six-fold in nine years.

Only 28% of 35-year-olds in 2019 had made investment transfers. A typical 25-year-old in 2024 was therefore ahead of the 35-year-olds from before the pandemic.

Other data points the same way. Fidelity reported that 43% of new retail accounts opened in 2022 belonged to investors aged 18 to 35, and 71% of Gen Z investors started after March 2020.

The JPMorganChase Institute warns that part of this rise may be a pandemic effect. Its measure fell slightly after the peak, but it expects the new level to stay well above the pre-pandemic norm.

Housing may play a role. The average age of a first-time homebuyer in the US reached 38 in 2024, according to the National Association of Realtors.

The shift also reflects lower barriers. The JPMorganChase Institute notes that account minimums and trading costs have fallen, which makes it easier for a young person with a modest income to begin.

Early starters have more years for savings to grow. They also face more years of market swings, which makes education important.

Income, Gender and Investing Flows

Investing flows in the US rose by about 50% from 2023 to early 2025, according to JPMorganChase Institute. They reached levels close to the pandemic savings boom.

This happened even though the savings rate stayed low. It averaged 4% to 5% since January 2024, compared with 6% to 7% in 2019 and peaks above 20% in 2020 and 2021.

Lower-income people have increased their investing by more than higher-income people. In May 2025, 3.8% of below-median earners moved money into investments in a month, against 0.8% on average in 2010 to 2015.

For above-median earners the monthly share was 8.6%, up from 2.9%. Below-median earners made up about 20% of monthly investors in the early 2010s and 31% in May 2025.

Men still invest more often than women. The male rate rose against the female rate in November 2024, then returned close to its 2024 average.

The report points to lower account minimums and trading costs, the stock market doubling over a decade, and weak housing affordability as reasons for the rise.

Seasonal patterns also matter. The JPMorganChase Institute says investing flows tend to be higher from January to April, partly because of annual bonuses and tax refunds.

The report adds that dip-buying and trend-chasing may explain some of the recent strength. It warns that without a rising savings rate, there are limits to how long the trend can last.

Investor Behavior and Confidence

Retail investors are often seen as short-term traders, but the numbers show a mixed picture. In 2020, 44% of new investors focused on short-term profit. By 2021 that share was 28%.

Confidence has moved with the market. The State Street Investor Confidence Index hit record highs in 2021 and has tapered off since.

A 2023 Finimize survey covered more than 2,000 investors in the US, Europe, and Asia. Only 1% planned to sell, 65% planned to keep investing, and 29% planned to add to their portfolios.

The survey also showed what they wanted to buy. 72% planned to buy individual stocks and 38% planned to buy crypto, while 84% had never invested in meme stocks.

Behavior can hurt returns. Kuzminsky and Ziemtsov note that retail investors often lack research tools, face higher transaction costs, and are affected by biases such as overconfidence and loss aversion.

Some meme stocks and Bitcoin fell 70% or more after their peaks. That shows how fast speculative bets can reverse.

The data also shows that sentiment can change quickly. Record confidence in 2021 gave way to a slow decline as inflation and higher interest rates cooled markets.

The failures of the FTX exchange and four US banks added to the caution. These events help explain why trust remains a concern for many retail investors.

Barriers, Trust and Education

The World Economic Forum runs a global retail investor survey every two years. Its findings show why many people stay out of the market.

Of non-investors, 76% have less than $50,000 in investable assets. 54% say they do not invest because they fear losing money.

Education stands out in the results. 74% of retail investors say they would invest more if they had more chances to learn about it.

Advice and convenience matter too. 65% of investors want comprehensive investment advice, and 61% would invest more if they could trade all their investments on one platform.

Trust is a gap in its own right. A 2022 CFA Institute study found that about 60% of retail investors trust the financial services industry, against 86% of institutional investors.

The World Economic Forum sums this up in a framework built on access, education, and trust. It will publish its 2026 data in December.

The barriers are linked. A person with little money to invest may fear a loss more, and a person who does not trust platforms may stay out even if they have savings.

That is why the survey groups its findings into three areas. Access, education, and trust each address a different reason for staying out.

Europe: Record Activity in 2026

Retail activity in Europe reached a high in the first half of 2026. The AMF, France’s market regulator, reports that nearly 1.2 million retail investors bought or sold EU-listed shares in each of the first two quarters.

That figure is up 14% from the second half of 2025 and is the highest since 2018.

ETFs are growing fastest. About 900,000 retail investors traded ETFs in each of the first two quarters of 2026, up 39% from the second half of 2025.

New ETF investors numbered 394,000. That is up 36% from the second half of 2025 and 26% from the first half of 2025, and the highest level since 2018.

New equity investors did not match the peak. There were 282,000 in the first half of 2026, compared with 315,000 in the first half of 2025.

The data covers trades with providers based in France or the EU, in shares that fall under the AMF’s reach.

The numbers also show a split between buying habits. Shares and ETFs both set highs, but ETF activity grew at a much faster pace.

ETFs hold many stocks in one product and often cost less to trade. Kuzminsky and Ziemtsov point to ETFs as one way to cut transaction costs.

United Kingdom: Retail Trading in 2025

Winterflood published its first UK Retail Investor Report in January 2026. It uses data from more than 150 retail-facing counterparties and covers over 97% of UK retail trade flow in equities and ETFs.

In 2025, the market was worth £228 billion in trade flow across 25.9 million trades.

The FTSE 100 produced £52 billion of retail trade flow in 2025. Of that, 56% (£29.1 billion) was outflows, and net outflows came to £6.3 billion.

Retail investors were net buyers of the FTSE 100 on only 43 of 253 trading days, or 17%. On AIM stocks they were net buyers on 202 days, or 80%.

Rolls-Royce led with £4.5 billion traded. Glencore followed at £3.7 billion and Lloyds at £3.6 billion.

Rule changes on January 19, 2026 also aim to make it easier to reach debt and equity capital markets.

The UK data also gives a view of timing. Retail investors were net sellers of large companies on most days, while buying smaller AIM stocks on most days.

That suggests UK retail investors are active and selective. Winterflood describes them as having a strong sense of trends and events.

India: Retail Share at a 22-Year High

India shows one of the sharpest rises in retail participation. In the second quarter of fiscal 2026, individual investors held 18.75% of the market value of NSE-listed companies, the highest in 22 years.

That is worth about ₹83.6 trillion. The 5-year and 10-year growth rates were 29.8% and 21.1% a year.

Foreign portfolio investors held 16.9% in the first half of fiscal 2026, the lowest in over 15 years. They had net outflows of $8.7 billion.

The gap between foreign investors and individuals was 11 percentage points in March 2014. It is now negative 1.9 points.

Domestic mutual funds took in money for an 18th straight quarter, investing ₹1.64 trillion in Q2 FY26. Their holdings reached a record 10.9% across all NSE-listed firms.

Retail interest is also moving down the size scale. Individual ownership outside the top 10% of companies rose to 16.7%, a 19-year high.

The shift in India is also about who stands behind the market. Domestic investors, both individuals and mutual funds, are taking up more of the share that foreign investors once held.

Angel One says this has helped offset swings in foreign capital. Promoters still hold the largest share at 50.1%.

AI Is Changing How Retail Investors Research

A March 2026 survey found that 62% of US retail investors had used AI to help inform an investment decision. More than half expected to use it more.

Investors use AI for more than buy or sell questions. They look up stock statistics, technical analysis, company news, economic events, dividends, and financial statements.

On October 12, 2026, Investing.com published its AI Investing Index. It studied 12 months of user activity and looked at AI use for research and at engagement with AI-focused stocks, adjusted for audience size.

California ranked first. Ohio and Colorado tied for second, followed by Florida and Texas, while New York ranked 13th and New Jersey 27th.

Florida had the highest use of AI for investment research. Pennsylvania led in engagement with AI-focused stocks.

Across 66 qualifying countries, the United States ranked 19th. Italy, Poland, Israel, Chile, and Argentina made up the top five.

Thomas Monteiro, a senior analyst at Investing.com, said AI has opened up information that was once out of reach for retail investors. He added that Wall Street’s location now counts for less than it did.

The results suggest that AI is spreading access to information. The index found its strongest activity in places far from the traditional centers of American finance.

The study also looked at engagement with AI-focused stocks. That means the index measures both how investors research and what they choose to follow.

Conclusion

Retail investing has grown in most of the markets covered here. More young people, more lower-income households, and more first-time investors are taking part.

Growth has not removed the gaps. Trust is lower among retail investors than among institutions, many non-investors fear losses, and research shows that behavior and costs can hold back returns.

New tools such as ETFs, mobile apps, and AI research aids are making access easier. The next World Economic Forum data release in December 2026 will show whether these trends continue.

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Sources