Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income): Borrowers from commercial banks (per 1,000 adults)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2022, Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income)'s borrowers from commercial banks (per 1,000 adults) rose 1.6 on 2021 (from 52.93 to 54.53).

Across the 13 yearly changes before that (2009 to 2021), the average change was +2.94 and a typical year strayed about 3.6 from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.4 standard deviations below 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 9.81 in 2019 and the biggest yearly fall was 2.63 in 2015. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2013 to 2022 the straight-line trend is upward, about 3.18 a year. A straight line explains 79% of the movement over 10 observed years.

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 15 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 Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income)

• Inflation, GDP deflator (annual % growth) — 4.3% (2025)
• Broad money (% of GDP) — 42.55% (2025)
• Domestic credit to private sector by banks (% of GDP) — 24.71% (2023)
• Monetary sector credit to private sector (% of GDP) — 24.81% (2023)
• Claims on central government, etc. (% of GDP) — 12.88% (2023)
• Domestic credit to private sector (% of GDP) — 31.68% (2023)
• Stocks traded, turnover ratio of domestic shares (%) — 23.74% (2024)
• Inflation, consumer prices (annual % growth)

Reading data like this

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
• Data analysis examples: 6 worked from one dataset — 3 min read
• Real change or random noise? A plain guide to reading your numbers — 2 min read

Questions people ask

What is Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income)'s borrowers from commercial banks (per 1,000 adults)?

54.53 in 2022, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 2008?

It is up 270.07% from 14.73 in 2008 (9.8% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 54.53 in 2022 and the lowest 14.73 in 2008.

Is the latest change in borrowers from commercial banks (per 1,000 adults) unusual for Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income)?

In 2022, Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income)'s borrowers from commercial banks (per 1,000 adults) rose 1.6 on 2021 (from 52.93 to 54.53). Across the 13 yearly changes before that (2009 to 2021), the average change was +2.94 and a typical year strayed about 3.6 from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.4 standard deviations below 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.

Want to ask your own questions of data like this? Try AnalyzeIt: upload a file or ask about public data in plain words, and every figure comes with its working.