The World Bank has just published the 2017 edition of its Global Findex database, which measures financial inclusion and the financial technology revolution worldwide.
This report offers detailed information "on how adults in more than 140 economies access accounts, make payments, save, borrow, and manage risk." United Nations member states are currently using Global Findex data to track progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals.
Among many other data points, the report reveals that 69% of adults own a bank account, which represents an increase of 7 percentage points compared to 2014, and 18 points compared to 2011, when account ownership was 51%. In absolute figures, this means that 515 million people gained access to financial tools in recent years.
Another piece of data provided by the study reflects the impact that digital technology is having in the field of payments. Thus, 52% of adults sent or received digital payments in the last year. This represents an increase of 10 points compared to 42% in 2014.
The World Bank launched Global Findex in 2011 thanks to funding provided by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. To date, three surveys have been conducted: in 2011, 2014, and 2017.
The following graph shows the percentage of the adult population that owns a bank account in the 140 territories analyzed in this report. The list is headed by Scandinavian countries –Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden–, followed by Canada and Holland, all of them above 99.6%.
Spain ranks 26th on the list: 93.76% of the adult Spanish population holds a bank account.
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