Formal savings are on the rise, with the increase partly driven by the convenience, accessibility, and affordability of mobile financial accounts, which are allowing people to make frequent savings deposits.

As of 2024, 40% of adults in low-and middle-income economies saved formally using an account, a 16% increase from 2021.

Mobile money and other digitally enabled accounts are driving this increase in savings.

In both Latin America and the Caribbean and Sub-Saharan Africa, the share of adults saving using mobile money increased by more than 10%, reaching 19 and 23% of adults, respectively.

Whereas the largest share of adults in Sub-Saharan Africa who save do so using mobile money accounts, in Latin America and the Caribbean, most adults who save use both mobile money accounts and accounts at banks or similar financial institutions.

The difference between the two regions possibly reflects stronger integration between mobile platforms and the formal banking system in the latter.

If those who save in either a mobile money account or an account at a bank or similar financial institution are included, 35% of adults saved in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2024, the second-highest regional rate after that in East Asia and Pacific.

Senegal exemplifies this progress, with 67% of adults there saving in 2024, up from 46% in 2021.

East Asia and Pacific continues to have the highest savings rate and registered the largest rise in savings between 2021 and 2024, at 20%, with the change driven by an increase of 22% in China alone.

This info is extracted from World Bank’s recently released Global Findex Database Survey 2025 covering 145,000 adults in 141 economies and conducted over the calendar year 2024.

The Global Findex provides a global measure on financial inclusion, digital connectivity, access to financial services and the impact of that on personal finance.

Results from the first survey were published in 2011 and have been followed by subsequent surveys in 2014, 2017, 2021 and the latest one in 2025.

If you are a bank, an asset manager or a life insurer, and want to find out more on how MenaMoney’s white-label, mobile-first digital savings solutions can seamlessly integrate with your infrastructure: please write to us at: info@menamoney.org