More than half of men and a third of women have collections on the go – survey

More than two-fifths (44%) of people consider themselves to be collectors, with Gen Z adults particularly likely to have a collection on the go, a survey suggests.

Men are more likely to be collectors than women, at 55% compared with 33%, according to NFU Mutual.

Books, jewellery, watches and vinyl records are among the items that people said they collect, with some also saying they collect cryptocurrency, the research found.

Seven in 10 (71%) Gen Z adults (born after 1996) and more than half (51%) of Millennials (born from 1981 to 1996) said they collected items highlighted in the survey, making them more likely to do so than the 35% of Gen X (born from 1965 to 1980) and 29% of Baby Boomers (born from 1946 to 1964) surveyed.

Some people are also buying items hoping they will pay off in the longer term as an investment.

Nearly one in 10 (9%) people surveyed said they had bought jewellery in the past year that they considered primarily as an investment and 5% had bought art primarily for this reason.

Furniture, books, vinyl records, precious metals, fine wines, musical instruments, and movie, sports or pop culture memorabilia were also among the items some people said they had bought in the past year primarily as an investment.

The value of collections can go down as well as up.

Younger generations may also feel the benefits of some people’s passions for collecting.

More than a fifth (21%) of people said they had bought jewellery with the intention of passing it down as a family heirloom.

Many people surveyed had also inherited items, with 27% having inherited jewellery, 15% having inherited books, 13% having inherited watches, 12% having inherited furniture and 9% having inherited antiques or collectables.

Meanwhile, 2% had inherited fine wines or spirits and 2% had inherited movie memorabilia.

NFU Mutual commissioned OnePoll to survey 2,000 people across the UK in April.

Dawn Blazier, head of bespoke home insurance at NFU Mutual, said: “We truly are a nation of collectors, and our latest survey data suggests that this will remain the case as Gen Z and Millennials continue to build their collections.

“While we might expect people to collect jewellery and watches, the fact that a sizeable proportion of the UK public is actively collecting cryptocurrency and vinyl is certainly a sign of the times.

“It’s also interesting that many ordinary people have recently bought items ranging from jewellery to furniture primarily as an investment, perhaps indicating that something which was once thought of as a preserve of the elite is slowly becoming more mainstream.

“With so many of us collecting and investing in items for the future, it’s more important than ever that people avoid underinsurance by making sure their contents are properly valued and listed on their insurance, particularly where collections or individual items have increased in value.

“Insurance needs to be able to cover the cost of replacing an item if the worst happens, and so I’d urge all the collectors to take a minute to make sure they’re adequately protected.”

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