Around 43% of adults in Ireland do not meet the minimum OECD level of financial literacy, a new report finds.
The analysis also claims that 44% of the adult population in this country do not have the minimum level of digital financial literacy needed to navigate their finances.
The findings are contained in a report by the Department of Finance which looks at the extent of current provisions around financial literacy and financial education here.
It also offers evidence, analysis and recommendation about how a new National Financial Literacy Strategy could be developed.
The report incorporates the findings of a stakeholder survey carried out last year and looks at various organisations that are already active in delivering financial education in Ireland.
"The level of responses received to the survey together with the ongoing engagement, support and enthusiasm shown by many stakeholders on the further development of financial literacy demonstrates how important this topic is to the overall financial wellbeing of Irish citizens," the Minister for Finance, Michael McGrath said.
"While Irish adults score well on financial literacy compared to other OECD countries, there is still a significant amount of the adult population that do not have the minimum level of financial literacy needed for managing their money on a day-today-basis or to consider their long-term financial wellbeing."
The report finds that there are many organisations already active in the space and recommends that their activities need to be supported within a coherent framework.
The study also finds that financial education needs to be better tailored, especially for those with lower financial literacy, including women, unemployed people, those on low incomes, those who have lower levels of education and older people.
It also recommends that education needs to begin earlier in childhood, preferably in pre-school, rather than the current norm of senior cycle in secondary school.
The teaching of financial education should take place through multiple levels in schools and supported through core subjects like maths.
Areas such as managing debt, seeking support when struggling with debt, digital financial literacy, investment decisions and financial literacy for small and medium sized businesses also need to be supported, it claims.
The Department of Finance said it hopes to have a National Financial Literacy Strategy published by the end of this year.
