We use new YouGov AI tools to get a more detailed view of the nation's annual pledge-making process
As 2024 draws to a close, many Britons’ minds are turning to the year ahead and the opportunities the changing calendar provides for self-improvement.
More than a quarter of Britons (27%) say they plan to make New Year’s Resolutions for 2025. The younger Britons are, the more likely they are to be making an annual promise to themselves, with 52% of 18-24 year olds saying they will do so, compared to only 16% of the over-55s.
While in previous years we have asked respondents to indicate the kinds of New Year’s resolutions they are making from a list of categories, the introduction of YouGov’s new artificial intelligence tool Topic Quantifier allows us to ask respondents to write down their resolutions directly, with the tool categorising responses automatically in a matter of moments. This allows us to provide the same quantitative analysis of the answers as a traditional survey in a fraction of the time, with the added benefit of richer respondent-level data.
What New Year’s resolutions are Britons making for 2025?
The single most common New Year’s resolution this year is to save more or spend less, with 21% of resolution-makers saying they intend to try and improve their finances in this way. Other, less common, money-related resolutions included a promise to earn more (4%), to start or increase investments (4%), to get better at financial management (3%) and to reduce their level of debt (2%).
Overall, 29% of those who made resolutions made some kind of financial resolution (the figure is lower than the sum of the above numbers as some people made multiple financial pledges).
Health-related resolutions are also common. One in six are looking to get fit or exercise more (17%), while a similar number say they want to lose weight (16%). Other related resolutions included to simply ‘be healthier’ (7%), eat more healthily (5%), and to improve mental health (1%). A further 2% also intend to drink less alcohol, and the same number want to give up smoking or vaping.
The total health-related category encompasses 39% of those planning to make a New Year’s resolution.
In terms of other top 10 most common resolutions that have not already been mentioned, 7% say they want to gain new skills and knowledge, while 5% gave answers in the realm of being a better person or improving their personality or attitude in some way. A further 5% have also resolved to spend more time with friends and family.
Breaking down the results by age, we can see that the youngest adults – members of Gen Z – are the most likely to be making finance-related resolutions (40%), while Gen Xers (who are in their mid-forties to late fifties) are the most likely to be making health-related promises (52%).
How many kept to their 2024 New Year’s resolutions?
We also asked the public to cast their mind back to the beginning of the year and tell us whether they made New Year’s resolutions for 2024. One in six (17%) say that they did. Of this group, one in three claim to have kept all of the resolutions they made (33%), while 45% profess to have kept to some, but not all, of their personal promises to themselves at the beginning of the year.
Only one in five (19%) admit to having failed to keep any of their New Year’s resolutions.
Previous YouGov research over the course of 2017 tracked how good at keeping to resolutions Britons were over the course of the year. The results that year found that just six days into the year one in five had already failed some of their resolutions.
YouGov are continuing to offer innovations and new products in the AI space - reach out to us if you think our AI topic quantifier model could be of use to you in your future projects.
Photo: Getty
