World Bank Group · Saved at a Financial Institution or with Mobile Money
Formal saving by country
What share of adults saved money at a bank or with mobile money in the past year?
Ghana placed first of the 98 countries compared in 2024, at 67.198%, and Lebanon last, at 3.159%. In the middle country the figure was 25.417%. Among the 71 countries measured in every edition since 2011, the middle one moved from 8.688% to 26.392%.
Part ofMoney & Public Finance
Formal saving · 2024
Context statistic
Highest of 98Ghana
67.198%012024 · position · derived
Who leads
The three countries at the highest end of 98 compared, the three at the other end, and the first on each continent.
1Photo: Erik Cleves Kristensen derivative work: Jjtkk · CC BY 2.0, greyscale
2Photo: Seebeer Edited by Nicholasjf21 · Public domain, greyscale
3
02Every measured country
Formal saving on a map
Each country is shaded by its value, in five groups holding the same number of countries. Hover a country for its value, or select it to open its profile. Below the map, each continent’s middle country.
Darker is a higher value — the better end.
- 3.159–14.060%
- 14.758–23.218%
- 23.227–29.018%
- 29.220–36.292%
- 37.723–67.198%
- No reading in 2024 (64 measured in an earlier edition)
- Africa
29.367%
the middle country, of 40 measured · 55 members
Ghana67.198%
Niger5.231%Highest and lowest reading in Africa.
- Americas
25.048%
the middle country, of 17 measured · 48 members
Brazil38.629%
Nicaragua9.327%Highest and lowest reading in Americas.
- Europe
25.031%
the middle country, of 12 measured · 49 members
Bulgaria47.704%
Moldova7.073%Highest and lowest reading in Europe.
- Asia
20.825%
the middle country, of 29 measured · 52 members
China66.521%
Lebanon3.159%Highest and lowest reading in Asia.
- Every region
15 sub-regions, highest middle country first
- Southern Africa
35.804%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 5 members
Namibia43.553%
Eswatini30.228%Highest and lowest reading in Southern Africa.
- Western Africa
30.168%
the middle country, of 14 measured · 16 members
Ghana67.198%Niger5.231%Highest and lowest reading in Western Africa.
- Middle Africa
28.607%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 9 members
Gabon39.061%
Chad14.060%Highest and lowest reading in Middle Africa.
- South-eastern Asia
27.270%
the middle country, of 7 measured · 11 members
Thailand53.577%
Cambodia10.648%Highest and lowest reading in South-eastern Asia.
- Eastern Europe
25.937%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 10 members
Bulgaria47.704%Moldova7.073%Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Europe.
- Eastern Africa
25.908%
the middle country, of 11 measured · 19 members
Kenya54.423%
Madagascar11.064%Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Africa.
- South America
25.696%
the middle country, of 8 measured · 12 members
Brazil38.629%
Paraguay19.634%Highest and lowest reading in South America.
- Southern Europe
24.125%
the middle country, of 7 measured · 17 members
Croatia45.770%
Albania14.758%Highest and lowest reading in Southern Europe.
- Southern Asia
22.021%
the middle country, of 6 measured · 9 members
Iran29.018%
Bangladesh10.620%Highest and lowest reading in Southern Asia.
- Central America
17.741%
the middle country, of 8 measured · 8 members
Costa Rica34.946%Nicaragua9.327%Highest and lowest reading in Central America.
- Northern Africa
15.876%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 6 members
Tunisia21.717%
Morocco6.093%Highest and lowest reading in Northern Africa.
- Western Asia
14.009%
the middle country, of 10 measured · 19 members
Saudi Arabia41.721%Lebanon3.159%Highest and lowest reading in Western Asia.
- Caribbean
1 of 24 measured — too few for a middle: Dominican Republic.
Dominican Republic29.220%Highest and lowest reading in Caribbean.
- Central Asia
4 of 5 measured — too few for a middle: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan.
Kazakhstan37.723%
Uzbekistan9.193%Highest and lowest reading in Central Asia.
- Eastern Asia
2 of 8 measured — too few for a middle: China, Mongolia.
China66.521%
Mongolia36.292%Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Asia.
03The whole field at once
The spread
98 countries, one dot each, on one scale — further right is a higher value. Half the countries are above 25.417%; a quarter are above 34.484%, and a quarter below 16.218%. The bar in each row marks that continent’s middle country.
04All 162 ever measured
Every country
In order, highest value first. “=” marks a position shared with another country. World Bank Group ranks nobody on this measure; the position is derived here by ordering the published values. Most high-income economies were not asked in 2024, so the 2024 table is mainly low- and middle-income countries; a rich country's latest figure is in the 2021 table. The figure counts whether adults saved formally at all, not how much, and people who save at home, in a savings club or in livestock are not counted.
Showing 25 of 162 countries
Values for 2024. The change column compares 2024 with 2021 only; the sparkline covers the recent editions.
052011–2024 · 5 editions
Over time
Each point is one survey wave — 2011, 2014, 2017, 2021 and 2024 — and each wave is a separately published survey. Mobile money counts from the waves that asked about it.
- the middle country
- the middle half of countries
- the middle of the 71 countries measured every time
- each continent’s middle country
The same, year by year
| Year | Countries | Middle country | Middle half | Measured every time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 98 | 25.417% | 16.218% – 34.484% | 26.392% |
| 2021 | 123 | 21.851% | 12.874% – 46.336% | 16.047% |
| 2017 | 145 | 16.191% | 9.131% – 32.562% | 12.073% |
| 2014 | 142 | 15.302% | 7.893% – 32.409% | 12.262% |
| 2011 | 144 | 13.445% | 5.882% – 25.426% | 8.688% |
062021 → 2024
Who rose and fell
The biggest changes in value between the two newest editions. Places are shown second, because they also move when other countries do.
Improved most
before → afterDeclined most
before → after
Sri Lanka33.913% → 23.218% · 44th → 59th−10.695
South Africa40.541% → 35.804% · 38th → 21st−4.736- Morocco7.646% → 6.093% · 107th → 96th−1.553
Laos17.206% → 15.957% · 77th → 75th−1.248- Moldova8.043% → 7.073% · 106th → 95th−0.970
79 countries were measured in both 2021 and 2024. The field changed from 123 to 98 countries, so a place can move for reasons that have nothing to do with the country itself.
07Across every edition
Formal saving in records
The extremes of the statistic. A record reached by more than one country names none of them.
Highest reading on record
80.927%
Adults who saved at a financial institution or with mobile money in the past year (% of population aged 15+)
Lowest reading on record
0.117%
Adults who saved at a financial institution or with mobile money in the past year (% of population aged 15+)
Biggest improvement between editions
+29.605
16.191% → 45.796%
Biggest decline between editions
−18.566
21.152% → 2.586%
Most improved since first measured
+54.582
3.717% → 58.299%
At the top most often
3 of 5
editions, alone at the first-listed end
08By sex
Inside the number
World Bank Group also publishes separate female and male readings. The gap between them, where both exist.
Of the 91 countries with both readings, the female reading is higher in 7, the male reading in 84. The widest gaps each way:
09The measure
About formal saving
This is the share of adults who put money aside in a bank, a similar financial institution or a mobile money account in the past year, from the World Bank's Global Findex survey. Saving formally keeps money safer than cash at home and is one of the ways an account starts to matter in someone's life.
What the number is: Adults who saved at a financial institution or with mobile money in the past year (% of population aged 15+).
10Where it fits
Connections
Its part in the Country Index, the statistics whose values line up most closely with it across countries, and others on the same subject.
In the Country Index
Context, with no vote
This statistic is published in full under Money & Public Finance, but does not help decide any Country Index standing.
Moves with
Where formal saving is higher, these tend to be higher too.
- Made or Received a Digital PaymentWorld Bank Group · 98 countries in commonρ 0.75
- Account Ownership at a Financial InstitutionKeyWorld Bank Group · 98 countries in commonρ 0.70
- Account Ownership Among WomenWorld Bank Group · 98 countries in commonρ 0.68
Moves against
Where formal saving is higher, these tend to be lower.
No statistic lines up this closely.
Rank correlation (ρ, from −1 to 1) across countries, on each statistic’s newest edition, out of 247 statistics sharing at least 80 countries with this one. Two statistics that move together do not cause each other.
11Keep reading
Explore further
The subject
More from World Bank Group
12Questions
Formal saving: questions and answers
Which country has the highest formal saving?
Ghana, at 67.198%, among the 98 countries compared in 2024.
Which country has the lowest formal saving?
Lebanon, at 3.159%, among the 98 countries compared in 2024.
How many countries does the Saved at a Financial Institution or with Mobile Money cover?
98 in 2024, and 162 at least once across all editions. The number measured varies from 98 to 145 between editions.
What is the world average formal saving?
This site does not calculate a world average, which would depend on how countries are weighted. In the middle country of the 98 compared in 2024, the figure was 25.417%.
Is this World Bank Group’s own ranking?
No. World Bank Group publishes the values but ranks nobody; the position on this page is derived by Nations Inquiry by ordering the published values, and equal values share a position.
How often is the Saved at a Financial Institution or with Mobile Money published?
This site holds 5 editions, describing 2011 to 2024.
Where does the data come from, and can I download it?
From World Bank Group, under CC BY 4.0. From World Bank Data360 (Global Findex, WB_FINDEX_FIN17A1), the Bank's own figures for adults aged 15 and over. Economies surveyed in 2022, whose fieldwork for the 2021 wave ran late, are left out. Every edition is on this site’s Datasets pages as a full table, and downloads as a CSV file with every value unrounded.
13Method
Sources, method and citation
Source
Saved at a Financial Institution or with Mobile Money — World Bank Group
From World Bank Data360 (Global Findex, WB_FINDEX_FIN17A1), the Bank's own figures for adults aged 15 and over. Economies surveyed in 2022, whose fieldwork for the 2021 wave ran late, are left out.
Newest edition
Report year 2024Data year 2024
Cite the source as: World Bank. The Global Findex Database. Washington, DC: World Bank Group.
Licence: CC BY 4.0, checked 2026-09-29.
How this page reads the numbers
- World Bank Group ranks nobody on this measure. The position is derived by Nations Inquiry by ordering the published values; equal values share a position.
- Which end is better follows the publisher’s own reading of the measure.
- A country is named at an end only when it holds that value alone. Where several share it, the page says how many and names none first.
- Values are stored exactly as published and trimmed only for display. “The middle country” is the median of the countries measured, not a world average.
The file itself, column by column — where it came from, what each column holds, and every edition as a CSV — is on its dataset page.
Photographs
The countries at the top of this statistic, from their profiles: Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale, each used under the licence named.
- Ghana — Erik Cleves Kristensen derivative work: Jjtkk, CC BY 2.0
- China — Seebeer Edited by Nicholasjf21, Public domain
- Senegal — Arensond, CC0
Cite this page
Nations Inquiry (2026). Formal saving by country: Saved at a Financial Institution or with Mobile Money, data from World Bank Group. https://nationsinquiry.com/statistics/formal-saving