Financial Inclusion: A Global Overview
Financial inclusion across the world has seen steady gains over the past decade, according to the World Bank’s Global Findex Database 2025. 79% of adults globally now have a financial account, up from 62% in 2014. In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), account ownership now stands at 75%, a 20-percentage-point increase over the past ten years. However, significant variation between regions remains, with account ownership as high as 83% in East Asia and the Pacific, and as low as 53% in Middle East and North Africa (excluding high-income economies).
As digital infrastructure has spread, the use of mobile money and digitally enabled accounts in LMICs has grown significantly. In some regions – especially Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean - mobile money has proven to be an important driver of financial inclusion and contributed to increasing formal savings rates. Digital payment usage has also grown significantly in LMICs, from 34% of adults using digital payments in 2014 to 62% in 2024. Again, the regional disparities are wide as digital payment usage ranges from 80% in East Asia and the Pacific to 44% in the regions of South Asia and Middle East and North Africa.
Gender gap in financial inclusion
As the gender gap has continued to narrow worldwide, women in low- and middle-income countries are now only 5 percentage points less likely than men to own an account. This figure is influenced significantly by East Asia and the Pacific, and China in particular, where the gender gap is negligible.
In other regions and countries, however, there is still much work to be done to advance women’s financial inclusion. The Middle East and North Africa, where only 46% of women have a financial account, has the highest gender gap among world regions (excluding high-income economies), at 14 percentage points. Countries with even larger gaps include Pakistan at 30 percentage points, Nigeria at 22 points and Türkiye at 20 points.
Closing the gender gap remains an important priority for many parts of the world, as research has shown that access to financial services contributes to women’s economic empowerment by increasing agency and opportunities for women. To explore the link between access to financial services and women’s economic empowerment, refer to CGAP’s Impact Pathfinder, which synthesizes decades of research on this topic. To learn more about how the financial inclusion sector is working towards women’s economic empowerment, join FinEquity, a community of practice to empower women through financial inclusion, convened by CGAP.
Resilience
Nearly a quarter of adults (24%) in low- and middle-income countries have experienced a natural disaster or severe weather event in the past three years, with 12% losing property as a result and 13% losing income. As climate change brings about more extreme weather, these numbers are likely to increase, as will the need for tools that build low-income families’ and communities’ resilience. Currently, only about 34% of adults in LMICs are able to cover expenses for more than two months if they were to lose their primary source of income. 45% could only cover expenses for a month or less.
Lack of financial resilience is a worldwide issue not limited only to developing economies, indicating the need for a range of financial services that can help low-income households build resilience. To explore the link between access to financial services and climate resilience, refer to CGAP’s Impact Pathfinder, which synthesizes decades of research on this topic.
Explore financial inclusion by region:
East Asia & Pacific | Europe & Central Asia | Latin America and the Caribbean | Middle East & North Africa | North America | South Asia | Sub-Saharan Africa
Knowledge Resources by Country or Economy
FinDev Gateway provides the latest publications, news, events and jobs related to financial inclusion in nearly all countries worldwide. Explore the knowledge resources we have available on the following countries and regions.
East Asia and Pacific
Financial inclusion in East Asia and the Pacific is the highest in the world (excluding high-income economies), with 83% of adults owning a financial account, according to the Global Findex Database 2025. This high level of account ownership is largely due to China’s huge economy, where 89% of adults have accounts, masking significant regional variation. Account ownership in other countries of the region ranges from 38% in Lao PDR and 39% in Cambodia, to 92% in Thailand and 98% in Mongolia. Learn more >
| Australia | Lao PDR | Solomon Islands |
| Cambodia | Malaysia | Thailand |
| China | Mongolia | Tonga |
| East Timor | Myanmar | Vanuatu |
| Fiji | Papua New Guinea | Vietnam |
| Indonesia | Philippines | |
| Japan | Samoa |
Europe and Central Asia
Financial inclusion in Europe and Central Asia grew at an impressive pace between 2011 and 2021, when it increased from 44% account ownership among adults in the region (excluding high-income economies) to 78%, according to the Global Findex Database 2025. Since then, however, progress has stagnated, as account ownership has remained at 78%, putting the region in second place after East Asia and the Pacific, and tied with South Asia. Learn more >
Latin America and the Caribbean
Financial inclusion in Latin America and the Caribbean has expanded significantly over the past decade. According to the latest edition of the Global Findex Database 2025, 70% of adults in the region (excluding high-income economies) owned a financial account in 2024, marking a three percentage points rise from 2021 and a significant increase from 54% in 2017 and 39% in 2011. Despite this progress, the region still trails the average for low- and middle-income countries by five percentage points. Learn more >
| Argentina | Dominican Republic | Mexico |
| Barbados | Ecuador | Nicaragua |
| Belize | El Salvador | Panama |
| Bolivia | Guatemala | Paraguay |
| Brazil | Guyana | Peru |
| Chile | Haiti | Suriname |
| Colombia | Honduras | Uruguay |
| Costa Rica | Jamaica | Venezuela |
Middle East and North Africa
Financial inclusion in the Middle East and North Africa has progressed at a modest pace over the past ten years, growing from 43% account ownership among adults in 2014 to 53% in 2024, according to the Global Findex Database 2025. However, instability in the region has caused this number to rise and fall during the period as gains are sometimes reversed, and the region currently has the lowest level of account access in the world (excluding high-income countries). Learn more >
| Algeria | Israel | Syria |
| Djibouti | Jordan | Tunisia |
| Egypt | Lebanon | West Bank and Gaza |
| Iran | Libya | Yemen |
| Iraq | Morocco |
North America
For the purposes of regional data analysis, the World Bank classification of North America includes only two countries: United States and Canada. According to the Global Findex Database 2025, these two countries have near universal account ownership among adults, at 98% in Canada and 97% in the United States. While financial inclusion in this region is among the highest in the world, significant disparities in access and financial resilience persist for low-income and marginalized groups including people of color, indigenous communities, immigrants and refugees, people with disabilities and those who live in rural areas. Learn more>
| Canada | United States |
South Asia
South Asia has seen substantial gains in financial inclusion over the past ten years. According to the latest edition of the Global Findex Database 2025, 78% of adults in the region now report having an account at a financial institution, up from 46% in 2014. This high level of account ownership is largely thanks to the size of India, the world’s most populous country, where 89% of adults have a financial account. Learn more >
| Afghanistan | Maldives | Pakistan |
| Bangladesh | Nepal | Sri Lanka |
| Bhutan | India |
Sub-Saharan Africa
Financial inclusion in Sub-Saharan Africa has grown steadily over the past decade, rising from 34% of adults owning a financial account in 2014 to 58% in 2024, according to the Global Findex Database 2025. However, the region remains among the lowest in the world for account ownership. With over 40 countries, there is a wide variation in financial inclusion levels throughout the region. Kenya and Mauritius boast the highest rates of account ownership, at 90% and 89%, followed by South Africa and Ghana (both 81%). Other countries lag far behind, such as Niger (14% account ownership), Chad (20%) and Madagascar (24%). Learn more >