A new study found that nearly half of millennials and Gen Xers have more credit card debt than savings.

Bankrate’s 2023 annual emergency savings report painted a bleak picture — particularly for millennials and members of Generation X. Their credit card debt to savings ratio is far worse than the general population, of whom roughly 36% said they had more credit card debt than savings.

That total still represents a record high since polling began in 2011.

Roughly 45% of millennials and 44% of Gen Xers said they had more credit card debt than savings. That's a massive increase from the previous year when they answered with 32% and 24%, respectively.

All generations reported a major increase in the proportion of those who had more credit card debt than savings this year compared to last year.

OVER A THIRD OF US HOUSEHOLDS RELY ON CREDIT CARDS TO COVER EXPENSES: SURVEY

Baby boomers were found to be the best off, with just one-quarter having more credit card debt than savings, although that was still 10 percentage points higher than last year. Roughly 38% of Gen Zers were in this category as well, compared to 23% last year.

"It’s clear that the less-than-optimal economy, including historically high inflation coupled with rising interest rates, has taken a double-edged toll on Americans. Many have resorted to tapping their emergency savings if they have it, or have taken on credit card debt, or some combination," Mark Hamrick, a Bankrate senior economic analyst, explained.

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The study was performed for Bankrate by SSRS on its Opinion Panel Omnibus platform, a national bimonthly survey with a sample of 1,032 respondents. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.7 percentage points.