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FinObservatory

Financial inclusion / ZMB

Zambia

Zambia appears in 5 of the 5 Global Findex rounds in this file (2011, 2014, 2017, 2021, 2024).

72.7%
Account, 2024
21.4%
Account, 2011
+51.3 pts
Change, 2011 to 2024
5.3 pts
Gender gap, 2024
72 of 140
Rank in the 2024 round

Account ownership by group

Share of adults aged 15 and over with an account at a bank or with a mobile money provider. Each line is a separate survey estimate on a subsample, not a decomposition of the total.

% of adults age 15+0.02040608020112014201720212024All adults, 2011: 21.4All adults, 2014: 35.6All adults, 2017: 45.9All adults, 2021: 48.5All adults, 2024: 72.7All adults 72.7Women, 2011: 23.3Women, 2014: 33.2Women, 2017: 40.3Women, 2021: 45.0Women, 2024: 70.2Women 70.2Men, 2011: 19.4Men, 2014: 38.1Men, 2017: 51.7Men, 2021: 52.5Men, 2024: 75.5Men 75.5Poorest 40%, 2011: 8.8Poorest 40%, 2014: 20.6Poorest 40%, 2017: 31.2Poorest 40%, 2021: 32.9Poorest 40%, 2024: 58.8Poorest 40% 58.8

Source: World Bank Global Findex Database 2025 (CC BY-4.0) Indicators account.t.d, account.t.d.1, account.t.d.2, account.t.d.7. Methodology

Account ownership20112014201720212024
Women23.3%33.2%40.3%45.0%70.2%
Men19.4%38.1%51.7%52.5%75.5%
Poorest 40%8.8%20.6%31.2%32.9%58.8%
Richest 60%29.7%45.7%55.6%58.9%81.9%
Age 15-2412.8%28.8%41.5%44.5%61.5%
Age 25+26.3%39.6%48.4%50.7%79.6%
Primary education or less9.2%22.4%30.9%33.0%62.0%
Secondary education or more32.2%50.9%60.1%67.2%84.3%
Rural----69.5%
Urban----77.2%

Source: World Bank Global Findex Database 2025 (CC BY-4.0) A dash means the cut is not reported for Zambia in that round. The rural and urban cuts exist in one round only. Methodology

The gaps

Gender gap is the men’s account rate minus the women’s; income gap is the richest 60% minus the poorest 40%. Both are differences between two survey estimates and the file publishes no standard error for either, so a gap of a few points is not distinguishable from zero.

Percentage points-100.010203020112014201720212024Gender gap, 2011: -3.9Gender gap, 2014: 4.9Gender gap, 2017: 11.4Gender gap, 2021: 7.5Gender gap, 2024: 5.3Gender gap 5.3Income gap, 2011: 20.9Income gap, 2014: 25.1Income gap, 2017: 24.4Income gap, 2021: 26.0Income gap, 2024: 23.2Income gap 23.2

Source: World Bank Global Findex Database 2025 (CC BY-4.0) account.t.d.2 minus account.t.d.1; account.t.d.8 minus account.t.d.7. Methodology

Payments, saving and borrowing

The digital-payment, saved and borrowed indicators are not collected in every round or for every economy: in the 2024 round they are reported for a subset of the economies that report account ownership.

Share of adults age 15+20112014201720212024
Made or received a digital payment-28.9%38.7%46.4%71.2%
Mobile money account-12.1%27.8%41.6%69.3%
Saved at a bank or using mobile money11.8%16.8%13.6%29.0%50.1%
Borrowed from a bank or using mobile money-5.7%10.4%14.8%18.1%

Source: World Bank Global Findex Database 2025 (CC BY-4.0) Indicators g20.any, mobileaccount.t.d, fin17a.17a1.d, fin22a.22a1.22g.d. A dash means no reading for Zambia in that round. Methodology

Physical access points

From the IMF Financial Access Survey by way of the GFDD, which stops in 2021. Each figure is Zambia’s latest reported year, which is shown beside it and is not necessarily the same year as another economy’s. These are the published values, reproduced without adjustment; for at least one economy the published branch and ATM counts are not physically possible, which the methodology page documents.

3.2
Bank branches per 100,000 adults (2020)
10.0
ATMs per 100,000 adults (2020)

Source: World Bank Global Financial Development Database | IMF Financial Access Survey GFDD.AI.02 and GFDD.AI.25, latest reported year for this economy. Methodology

Access infrastructure (IMF Financial Access Survey)

Findex above measures use: whether adults say they have an account. The FAS measures infrastructure: what regulators count. For Zambia the FAS carries readings from 2004 to 2024, annual rather than in survey rounds, pulled directly from the IMF’s API. In 2024, mobile-money transactions ran at 239,690 per 1,000 adults, about 240 transactions per adult over the year.

Per 100,000 adults0.0100020003000400020042007201020132016201920222024Branches, 2004: 3.1Branches, 2005: 3.0Branches, 2006: 3.0Branches, 2007: 3.2Branches, 2008: 3.5Branches, 2009: 3.7Branches, 2010: 3.8Branches, 2011: 3.9Branches, 2012: 4.1Branches, 2013: 4.4Branches, 2014: 4.6Branches, 2015: 4.6Branches, 2016: 4.6Branches, 2017: 4.4Branches, 2018: 3.7Branches, 2019: 3.1Branches, 2020: 3.0Branches, 2021: 2.7Branches, 2022: 2.7Branches, 2023: 2.6Branches, 2024: 2.5Branches 2.5ATMs, 2004: 0.9ATMs, 2005: 1.4ATMs, 2006: 2.1ATMs, 2007: 2.8ATMs, 2008: 4.2ATMs, 2009: 6.0ATMs, 2010: 6.5ATMs, 2011: 6.7ATMs, 2012: 8.0ATMs, 2013: 8.9ATMs, 2014: 10.0ATMs, 2015: 10.7ATMs, 2016: 10.9ATMs, 2017: 11.0ATMs, 2018: 11.0ATMs, 2019: 9.7ATMs, 2020: 9.6ATMs, 2021: 8.4ATMs, 2022: 8.0ATMs, 2023: 8.4ATMs, 2024: 7.7ATMs 7.7MM agents, 2009: 0.2MM agents, 2010: 0.8MM agents, 2011: 6.1MM agents, 2012: 16.8MM agents, 2013: 43.3MM agents, 2014: 31.5MM agents, 2015: 51.2MM agents, 2016: 86.2MM agents, 2017: 109.3MM agents, 2018: 357.4MM agents, 2019: 697.9MM agents, 2020: 1192.5MM agents, 2021: 1393.8MM agents, 2022: 2135.0MM agents, 2023: 2948.9MM agents, 2024: 3440.7MM agents 3440.7

Source: IMF Financial Access Survey Access points per 100,000 adults (FA26N, FA18N, FA5N). MM agents are active mobile-money agent outlets, reported only where the country serves mobile money. Methodology

Accounts per 1,000 adults. A registered mobile-money count above 1,000 means more registrations than adults; registration is not use, and an active count (90-day use) runs well below it where both are reported.

Per 1,000 adults0.050010001500200020042007201020132016201920222024Deposit accts, 2010: 127.1Deposit accts, 2011: 143.7Deposit accts, 2012: 179.9Deposit accts, 2013: 245.5Deposit accts, 2014: 274.6Deposit accts, 2015: 290.8Deposit accts, 2016: 302.0Deposit accts, 2017: 315.5Deposit accts, 2018: 282.8Deposit accts, 2019: 222.0Deposit accts, 2020: 206.2Deposit accts, 2021: 211.1Deposit accts, 2022: 214.5Deposit accts, 2023: 226.9Deposit accts, 2024: 246.3Deposit accts 246.3Loan accts, 2009: 17.6Loan accts, 2010: 18.1Loan accts, 2011: 19.7Loan accts, 2012: 26.8Loan accts, 2013: 36.6Loan accts, 2014: 36.5Loan accts, 2015: 32.3Loan accts, 2016: 23.9Loan accts, 2017: 23.3Loan accts, 2018: 21.4Loan accts, 2019: 21.9Loan accts, 2020: 20.6Loan accts, 2021: 32.0Loan accts, 2022: 46.3Loan accts, 2023: 61.2Loan accts, 2024: 44.8Loan accts 44.8MM registered, 2009: 1.7MM registered, 2010: 12.8MM registered, 2011: 54.9MM registered, 2012: 174.2MM registered, 2013: 298.8MM registered, 2014: 554.5MM registered, 2015: 547.0MM registered, 2016: 683.7MM registered, 2017: 1209.4MM registered, 2018: 1385.6MM registered, 2019: 1355.9MM registered, 2020: 1784.4MM registered, 2021: 1721.2MM registered, 2022: 1372.1MM registered, 2023: 1453.7MM registered, 2024: 1174.1MM registered 1174.1MM active, 2009: 0.4MM active, 2010: 1.7MM active, 2011: 2.5MM active, 2012: 6.2MM active, 2013: 10.6MM active, 2014: 38.4MM active, 2015: 27.8MM active, 2016: 55.9MM active, 2017: 149.9MM active, 2018: 343.1MM active, 2019: 466.0MM active, 2020: 797.1MM active, 2021: 881.4MM active, 2022: 969.5MM active, 2023: 1076.3MM active, 2024: 988.0MM active 988.0

Source: IMF Financial Access Survey Accounts per 1,000 adults (FA30N_COMBANK, LOANACCN_COMBANK, FA67N, FA63N), commercial banks and mobile money. Methodology