Measuring Our Impact
Living Standards
Financial exclusion goes hand-in-hand with poor living standards. By offering microfinance services to low-income individuals around the world, FINCA is giving people the tools they need to raise their standard of living, under their own hard work and ingenuity.
FINCA's borrowers in Africa particularly struggle to have a decent quality of life. More than half live in homes without water. Nearly two out of five lack electricity.
These problems are not isolated to Africa, however. Access to water is a problem that affects clients in every region. Also, more than a third of our clients live in a household whose main earner has only a primary education or less. This problem is most severe in Latin America where it affects two-thirds of our clients, respectively.
Living Standards Data
Global
Global
Africa
Eurasia
Latin America
MESA
Africa
Eurasia
Latin America
MESA
Africa
All Africa
DRC
Malawi
Nigeria
Tanzania
Uganda
Zambia
DRC
Malawi
Nigeria
Tanzania
Uganda
Zambia
Eurasia
All Eurasia
Armenia
Azerbaijan
Georgia
Kosovo
Kyrgyzstan
Tajikistan
Armenia
Azerbaijan
Georgia
Kosovo
Kyrgyzstan
Tajikistan
Latin America
All Latin America
Ecuador
Guatemala
Haiti
Honduras
Nicaragua
Ecuador
Guatemala
Haiti
Honduras
Nicaragua
MESA
All MESA
Afghanistan
Jordan
Pakistan
Afghanistan
Jordan
Pakistan
13,847
55%
Client homes without water
Clean water sources have been damaged or destroyed by years of conflict. Despite government action in this area, many communities rely on wells, rivers, streams, and water tanks when available.
%
#
2,518
10%
Client homes without electricity
%
#
22,659
90%
Client homes without access to Internet
%
#
3,777
15%
Clients who don’t own their home
%
#
17,826
71%
Head of household with primary education or less
Less than a third (29 percent) have attained at least a secondary school education. This partly reflects the devastation of the educational system by three decades of conflict in the country.
%
#
88,834
51%
Client homes without water
%
#
69,600
40%
Client homes without electricity
%
#
118,305
68%
Client homes without access to Internet
%
#
67,539
39%
Clients who don’t own their home
The rate of clients who don't own their own home is more than twice the global average (17%).
%
#
83,132
48%
Head of household with primary education or less
%
#
5,780
16%
Client homes without water
%
#
0
0%
Client homes without electricity
%
#
10,476
29%
Client homes without access to Internet
Internet access in Armenia has been improving over the past few years, and is actually higher in Armenia than in the region overall.
%
#
1,084
3%
Clients who don’t own their home
%
#
0
0%
Head of household with primary education or less
%
#
1,954
28%
Client homes without water
%
#
0
0%
Client homes without electricity
%
#
4,047
58%
Client homes without access to Internet
%
#
70
1%
Clients who don’t own their home
%
#
206
3%
Head of household with primary education or less
%
#
22,969
46%
Client homes without water
The DRC, Africa’s most “water-rich” country, is facing an acute water supply crisis with considerable social and public health consequences. Nearly half (46%) of FINCA’s borrowers lack access to safe drinking water.
%
#
7,989
16%
Client homes without electricity
%
#
23,967
48%
Client homes without access to Internet
%
#
25,965
52%
Clients who don’t own their home
%
#
5,415
11%
Head of household with primary education or less
Among FINCA borrowers, 89% live in a household headed by someone with greater than primary education.
%
#
1,198
8%
Client homes without water
%
#
0
0%
Client homes without electricity
%
#
2,995
20%
Client homes without access to Internet
%
#
1,797
12%
Clients who don’t own their home
%
#
5,631
38%
Head of household with primary education or less
%
#
29,376
14%
Client homes without water
%
#
1,293
1%
Client homes without electricity
%
#
112,028
54%
Client homes without access to Internet
%
#
7,284
3%
Clients who don’t own their home
%
#
8,670
4%
Head of household with primary education or less
%
#
219,292
31%
Client homes without water
Every FINCA region has clients who lack this basic service, including places like Tajikistan, Honduras and Afghanistan.
%
#
86,447
12%
Client homes without electricity
Outside of Africa, Honduras has the highest percentage of borrowers who lack electricity in their homes.
%
#
437,960
62%
Client homes without access to Internet
%
#
108,110
15%
Clients who don’t own their home
%
#
252,938
36%
Head of household with primary education or less
The lack of education is particularly notable in Latin America, but other regions are not far behind, especially MESA and Africa.
%
#
7,608
18%
Client homes without water
Rural people struggle to obtain safe drinking water, relying mainly on local wells or springs.
%
#
0
0%
Client homes without electricity
%
#
16,907
40%
Client homes without access to Internet
%
#
1,268
3%
Clients who don’t own their home
Many Georgians need to improve or expand their dwellings, especially those that are accommodating multiple generations under one roof, which is common in rural areas.
%
#
1,169
3%
Head of household with primary education or less
%
#
4,925
15%
Client homes without water
%
#
3,283
10%
Client homes without electricity
%
#
13,789
42%
Client homes without access to Internet
%
#
4,925
15%
Clients who don’t own their home
%
#
25,246
77%
Head of household with primary education or less
This is the second-highest percentage in the world, just after Afghanistan.
%
#
No data has been collected yet for this indicator in Haiti.
The support of FINCA donors is vital to our efforts to understand our clients and better serve them. Please Donate to support this important work.
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7,838
30%
Client homes without water
%
#
7,054
27%
Client homes without electricity
%
#
13,324
51%
Client homes without access to Internet
%
#
3,658
14%
Clients who don’t own their home
%
#
17,860
68%
Head of household with primary education or less
%
#
No data has been collected yet for this indicator in Jordan.
The support of FINCA donors is vital to our efforts to understand our clients and better serve them. Please Donate to support this important work.
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2,508
13%
Client homes without water
Water quality is a common problem for rural households, which often rely on domestic wells with inadequate sanitation systems.
%
#
3,859
20%
Client homes without access to Internet
%
#
386
2%
Clients who don’t own their home
%
#
5,267
27%
Head of household with primary education or less
This is 10x the regional average. Lower levels of education are especially common among women.
%
#
1,592
2%
Client homes without water
Although the population’s access to safe drinking water improved significantly during last decade, there are huge disparities among regions in the country.
%
#
796
1%
Client homes without electricity
%
#
58,113
73%
Client homes without access to Internet
This is about 20 percentage points higher than in the overall region (55%).
%
#
3,980
5%
Clients who don’t own their home
%
#
736
1%
Head of household with primary education or less
%
#
17,401
18%
Client homes without water
%
#
10,982
12%
Client homes without electricity
%
#
39,139
41%
Client homes without access to Internet
%
#
11,024
12%
Clients who don’t own their home
%
#
60,733
64%
Head of household with primary education or less
%
#
19,196
53%
Client homes without water
%
#
19,196
53%
Client homes without electricity
More clients lack electricity in Malawi than anywhere else in the region.
%
#
24,267
67%
Client homes without access to Internet
High taxes and poor infrastructure, among other obstacles, make access to the Internet prohibitively costly,
%
#
11,228
31%
Clients who don’t own their home
%
#
19,015
53%
Head of household with primary education or less
%
#
83,681
36%
Client homes without water
%
#
4,572
2%
Client homes without electricity
%
#
168,488
73%
Client homes without access to Internet
%
#
22,262
10%
Clients who don’t own their home
%
#
100,403
44%
Head of household with primary education or less
The educational level of our clients' households is likely to drop even further as we expand deeper into rural areas.
%
#
3,440
16%
Client homes without water
Similar to the regional average.
%
#
645
3%
Client homes without electricity
Two times less than the regional average, reflecting FINCA Nicaragua's concentration in more urban areas.
%
#
9,031
42%
Client homes without access to Internet
%
#
645
3%
Clients who don’t own their home
The rate of home ownership in Nicaragua is the highest outside of Eurasia.
%
#
11,995
56%
Head of household with primary education or less
While somewhat better than the regional average, this indicator is very high by global standards.
%
#
No data has been collected yet for this indicator in Nigeria.
The support of FINCA donors is vital to our efforts to understand our clients and better serve them. Please Donate to support this important work.
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69,833
34%
Client homes without water
Urbanization is putting even more strain on the water resources, especially in the rapidly-growing cities.
%
#
2,054
1%
Client homes without electricity
%
#
145,828
71%
Client homes without access to Internet
At the time of the FCAT survey, most internet connections were fixed. Mobile broadband is growing in Pakistan and eventually replacing fixed connections.
%
#
18,485
9%
Clients who don’t own their home
While most FINCA clients own their homes, the urban housing situation in Pakistan is under pressure from rural-urban migration and rapid population growth.
%
#
82,576
40%
Head of household with primary education or less
%
#
9,934
40%
Client homes without water
Outside of Africa, only Afghanistan has a higher share of customers without this basic service.
%
#
497
2%
Client homes without electricity
%
#
18,626
75%
Client homes without access to Internet
This is 20 percentage points higher the regional average. Internet penetration is constrained by a limited reach of the telcom sector, the high cost of access, and widespread poverty.
%
#
497
2%
Clients who don’t own their home
%
#
1,291
5%
Head of household with primary education or less
%
#
26,022
55%
Client homes without water
%
#
23,656
50%
Client homes without electricity
%
#
37,850
80%
Client homes without access to Internet
%
#
17,316
37%
Clients who don’t own their home
%
#
36,640
77%
Head of household with primary education or less
The educational levels in Tanzania are much lower than in the other African countries.
%
#
16,185
50%
Client homes without water
In addition to the health risks from contaminated sources, the lack of running water imposes a physical burden on family members -- often children -- who are required to collect and transport it back to the house.
%
#
16,573
51%
Client homes without electricity
The electrical grid in Uganda is extremely limited and poorly maintained.
%
#
25,572
79%
Client homes without access to Internet
%
#
9,387
29%
Clients who don’t own their home
This indicator is high throughout Africa.
%
#
18,127
56%
Head of household with primary education or less
Only Tanzania has a higher incidence of household heads who have a primary education or less.
%
#
4,463
49%
Client homes without water
%
#
2,186
24%
Client homes without electricity
This is somewhat better than the rural conditions in neighboring countries, but not as good as DRC, whose clientele is primarily urban, like Zambia's.
%
#
6,650
73%
Client homes without access to Internet
%
#
3,644
40%
Clients who don’t own their home
%
#
3,935
43%
Head of household with primary education or less
%
#
See All Afghanistan Data
See All Africa Data
See All Armenia Data
See All Azerbaijan Data
See All DRC Data
See All Ecuador Data
See All Eurasia Data
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See All Georgia Data
See All Guatemala Data
See All Haiti Data
See All Honduras Data
See All Jordan Data
See All Kosovo Data
See All Kyrgyzstan Data
See All Latin America Data
See All Malawi Data
See All MESA Data
See All Nicaragua Data
See All Nigeria Data
See All Pakistan Data
See All Tajikistan Data
See All Tanzania Data
See All Uganda Data
See All Zambia Data
