Where Formal Savings Are Highest 2026 — Banks, Mobile Money, and the Global Saving Divide
Introduction
As SK Hynix begins trading on the Nasdaq this week — raising roughly $1 trillion in market value — the event highlights a fundamental feature of developed financial systems: the ability of households to save formally and invest in capital markets. But for most of the world’s adults, saving at a bank, credit union, or mobile money provider is still not the norm.
Across 141 economies with Global Findex data, the share of adults who save at a formal financial institution ranges from 80.9% in Norway to below 5% in several Sub-Saharan African countries. Mobile money is beginning to close the gap, but the divide remains deep.
What Formal Savings Measures
The Global Findex defines formal savings as money set aside at a bank, credit union, microfinance institution, or mobile money account in the past 12 months. It does not include informal savings methods like savings clubs, cash under the mattress, or investments in livestock or property.
The latest Global Findex survey was conducted in 2024, with data available for 141 economies. For a deeper understanding of how financial inclusion is measured, see our guide to reading fintech statistics responsibly.
The Data: Where Formal Savings Rates Are Highest
| Rank | Country | Formal Savings Rate | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Norway | 80.9% | 2021 |
| 2 | Sweden | 79.7% | 2021 |
| 3 | New Zealand | 69.3% | 2021 |
| 4 | Australia | 69.2% | 2021 |
| 5 | Denmark | 67.3% | 2021 |
| 6 | Austria | 66.7% | 2021 |
| 7 | China | 66.5% | 2024 |
| 8 | Netherlands | 65.7% | 2021 |
| 9 | United States | 64.9% | 2021 |
| 10 | Canada | 63.9% | 2021 |
The top of the table is dominated by high-income economies, where nearly every adult has access to a bank account and the habit of saving formally is deeply ingrained. For context on account ownership, see our report on the state of financial inclusion 2026.
How Mobile Money Changes the Savings Picture
When mobile money accounts are included alongside traditional bank savings, the picture shifts meaningfully in several countries. The “formal and mobile money savings” metric adds savings held in mobile money accounts to the traditional formal savings rate:
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Ghana rises from below the top 15 in formal-only savings to 67.2% (Rank 6) when mobile money is included, reflecting the dominance of mobile money in West Africa’s financial ecosystem. For context, see our analysis of the mobile money economy.
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Kenya jumps significantly when mobile money is counted, driven by M-Pesa’s near-universal adoption. See our report on formal mobile money savings for a detailed breakdown.
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Nigeria sees its savings rate rise substantially as mobile money agents extend financial services beyond the traditional banking network. For the full mobile money picture, see our article on the mobile money transaction ecosystem.
Where Savings Rates Are Lowest
At the other end of the spectrum, formal savings rates in many developing economies remain in single digits:
| Country | Formal Savings Rate | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Côte d’Ivoire | 8.7% | 2021 |
| Mozambique | 8.7% | 2021 |
| Senegal | 8.0% | 2021 |
| Sierra Leone | 8.0% | 2021 |
| Cameroon | 7.6% | 2021 |
In these countries, less than 1 in 10 adults save at a formal institution. The primary barriers are lack of access to bank branches (see our article on where banking still means walking in), low incomes, and the prevalence of informal savings mechanisms like rotating savings clubs.
The Savings Gap vs. Account Ownership
A striking pattern in the data is the gap between account ownership and active savings. While the United States has 97% account ownership, only 64.9% of adults save formally. The gap is even wider in many middle-income countries:
- China: 89.4% account ownership vs. 66.5% savings rate (23-point gap)
- South Korea: 96.7% vs. 59.5% (37-point gap)
- India: 88.7% vs. 23.8% (65-point gap)
Having an account does not automatically translate into saving behavior. For a comparison of different savings channels, see our article on banks vs. mobile money account ownership.
How This Connects to Capital Markets
The SK Hynix IPO this week underscores a deeper reality: countries with high formal savings rates also tend to have deeper capital markets. Household savings deposited in banks and invested through pension funds and mutual funds provide the capital that funds IPOs, corporate bonds, and stock market activity.
In Norway, where 80.9% of adults save formally, the stock market is well-capitalized at $2.5 trillion. In Nigeria, where formal savings rates are in the single digits, the stock market capitalization is just $86.9 billion. For the full picture on market sizes, see our ranking of the largest stock markets by capitalization.
What 2026 Looks Like
The Global Findex survey is conducted approximately every three years. The 2024 wave is the latest available, with the next survey expected around 2027. There are no projections for formal savings rates — projecting survey-based metrics forward is not statistically defensible.
However, the trend is clear: mobile money is steadily closing the formal savings gap in Sub-Saharan Africa and parts of South Asia, even as traditional bank-based savings in high-income countries remains stable or slightly declining. For a look at how we project financial inclusion metrics, see our explanation of how we project 2026 data.
Sources & Method
The savings data in this report comes from the World Bank’s Global Findex Database 2024, the most comprehensive survey of financial inclusion ever conducted. The survey covers approximately 145,000 adults across 141 economies.
Key caveats:
- Global Findex data is survey-based — responses are self-reported
- Data years vary: most countries have 2021 or 2024 data, as marked
- Formal savings includes banks, credit unions, microfinance institutions, and (in the combined metric) mobile money accounts
- The survey does not capture informal savings methods
- Global Findex surveys are conducted in waves, not annually — no projections exist
For the full methodology behind our data collection, validation, and formatting, see our methodology page.