SUPERANNUATION savings are woefully inadequate and will leave Australians nearly $700 billion short of what is needed to live decently in retirement, according to new research.

The Investment and Financial Services Association has calculated that by the middle of 2008 Australians had a retirement ''savings gap'' of $695 billion, a dramatic increase on the $452 billion gap when the group last assessed super contributions.

The latest numbers do not include the worst of the global financial crisis, so the gap is likely to have grown. More recent data was not available.

The figures mean the average savings gap is $73,000 a person, an increase of $26,000 over the previous four years.

The association used the data to back its campaign for the compulsory employer super contribution to be boosted to at least 12 per cent beyond the current 9 per cent. It said some actuaries believed contributions as high as 20 per cent might be needed.