British workers are expected to save for 37 years before retiring, meaning they will have to save for seven years longer than their predecessors, a survey released on Wednesday (13 July) showed.

According to HSBC's "Generations and journeys" report, the the current generation of retirees started saving for their retirement at 35 and retired at 58, saving for an average period of 23 years.

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However, working age people across the 17 countries surveyed now begin to save five years earlier, at age 30, and expect to retire two years later, meaning they face on average 30 years of retirement saving – seven years more than current retirees.

"People recognise that they are living longer and may not be able to rely solely on more traditional forms of funding for their retirement, including state provision," said Charlie Nunn, group head of HSBC's wealth management division.

"As a result, they are realising they need to start saving for retirement earlier than previous generations and to consider alternative methods to help fund their retirement. Even small amounts set aside today can go a long way to helping fund a comfortable retirement in the future."

Britain is not the only country where workers face having to save for longer than the current generation of retirees. People in China expect to have to save for 14 years more than current retirees, while workers in the United Arab Emirates will have to save for 25 years compared with the current 12.

Australians and French both expect to having to save for 11 years longer than those who have already retired, while Indonesia is the only country surveyed where working age people expect to save for the same length of time as current retirees saved for.

However, despite the fact that most begin to save much earlier than in previous years, many workers still do not think they have put enough money aside. According to HSBC, 38% of the 18,000 worldwide respondents wished they had started saving earlier, while 28% believe they should have saved more.

Even more surprisingly, 24% of those surveyed admitted not having started to save yet, with 12% of them aged 60 or over.