Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (excluding high income): Borrowers from commercial banks (per 1,000 adults)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2019, Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (excluding high income)'s borrowers from commercial banks (per 1,000 adults) rose 6.95 on 2018 (from 79.93 to 86.87).

Across the 10 yearly changes before that (2009 to 2018), the average change was +1 and a typical year strayed about 9.34 from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.6 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 13.58 in 2016 and the biggest yearly fall was 16.08 in 2012. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2010 to 2019 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains 15% of the movement over 10 observed years, so the value is moving around more than it is heading anywhere.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

How it compares

See how every economy compares in the full ranking.

What this measures

Borrowers from commercial banks are the reported number of resident customers that are nonfinancial corporations (public and private) and households who obtained loans from commercial banks and other banks functioning as commercial banks.

Limitations: For many countries data cover the total number of loan accounts due to lack of information on loan account holders. For several countries, data cover all borrowers including commercial banks, credit unions and financial cooperatives, deposit taking microfinance institutions, and other deposit takers. These include all resident financial corporations and quasi-corporations (except the central bank) that are mainly engaged in financial intermediation and that issue liabilities included in the national definition of broad money.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a median.

All 12 values

Borrowers from commercial banks (per 1,000 adults) in nearby economies

• Afghanistan — 3.29 (2019)
• Algeria — 43.39 (2024)
• Bahrain — 191.97 (2024)
• Djibouti — 42.46 (2024)
• Egypt, Arab Rep. — 132.95 (2024)
• Kuwait — 198.93 (2024)
• Lebanon — 70.82 (2024)
• Pakistan — 23.34 (2024)
• Qatar — 280.89 (2021)
• Saudi Arabia

More financial sector data for Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (excluding high income)

• Monetary sector credit to private sector (% of GDP) — 26.97% (2025)
• Domestic credit to private sector by banks (% of GDP) — 26.93% (2025)
• Domestic credit to private sector (% of GDP) — 30.25% (2025)
• Inflation, GDP deflator (annual % growth) — 4% (2025)
• Broad money (% of GDP) — 69.62% (2024)
• Claims on central government, etc. (% of GDP) — 39.64% (2025)
• Inflation, consumer prices (annual % growth)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (excluding high income)'s borrowers from commercial banks (per 1,000 adults)?

86.87 in 2019, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 2008?

It is up 24.19% from 69.95 in 2008 (1.99% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 86.87 in 2019 and the lowest 50.54 in 2013.

Is the latest change in borrowers from commercial banks (per 1,000 adults) unusual for Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (excluding high income)?

In 2019, Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (excluding high income)'s borrowers from commercial banks (per 1,000 adults) rose 6.95 on 2018 (from 79.93 to 86.87). Across the 10 yearly changes before that (2009 to 2018), the average change was +1 and a typical year strayed about 9.34 from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.6 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator FB.CBK.BRWR.P3, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Financial Access Survey, International Monetary Fund (IMF), uri: https://data.imf.org/en/datasets/IMF.STA:FAS Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

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