Reports have confirmed that a major chuck of the Australian population has given up on superannuation funds, instead preferring to invest their savings in other avenues. It seems that their confidence has been hurt and has hit an-all time low because of the global financial meltdown, and on the back of the Government's ongoing tinkering of regulations.

As has been revealed by the data shared by independent researcher SuperRatings, personal contributions to super (investments in super outside of employer contribution) have declined by over 55% during the last two fiscal years.

They slipped by nearly 35% during the last financial year, when the economic downturn was at its peak, having dropped 32% in the previous year.

"A large part of it was because of the global financial crisis and the consistently negative returns that were coming out of super, and that would have translated into a lack of confidence by some people on continuing to invest in superannuation. Those in and around retirement would have been asking, `When is it all going to end?", said SuperRatings Managing Director Jeff Bresnahan.

During the economic crisis, super returns were largely hurt, mainly on the back of the high allocation to equities by the country's super funds.