UK savers have lost £36 billion ($58.5 billion) in savings over the past 12 months due to inflation, according to The Telegraph.

A review by accountants at UHY Hacker Young showed that, on average, while consumers were getting 1.6% on their accounts, they were experiencing inflation of 5.2% as of April 2011.

From The Telegraph:

Mark Giddens, partner at UHY Hacker Young, said: "The amount of money eroded away through inflation is staggering. In this climate of high inflation, savers need to be more proactive and shop around to get the best rates.

In the U.S., the average rate on savings accounts is 0.21%, according to MonitorBankRates.com. The rate of inflation, according to the latest CPI data, is 3.2%. Should that gap widen further, and returns on other fixed investments like bonds remain depressed, more and more Americans, particularly those living on a fixed income, will begin to experience a scenario similar to that in the UK right now.