Living Standards

Financial exclusion goes hand-in-hand with poor living standards. 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, which makes it harder for the family to get out of poverty.

Living Standards Data

Global

Africa

Eurasia

Latin America

MESA

Africa

All Africa

DRC

Malawi

Nigeria

Tanzania

Uganda

Zambia

Eurasia

All Eurasia

Armenia

Azerbaijan

Kosovo

Kyrgyzstan

Tajikistan

Latin America

All Latin America

Ecuador

Guatemala

Haiti

Honduras

MESA

All MESA

Afghanistan

Jordan

Pakistan

15,827 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. % #

2,878 10% Client homes without electricity % #

25,898 90% Client homes without access to Internet % #

4,316 15% Clients who don’t own their home % #

20,375 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. % #

111,936 51% Client homes without water % #

90,044 41% Client homes without electricity % #

141,902 64% Client homes without access to Internet % #

83,461 38% 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%). % #

96,522 44% Head of household with primary education or less % #

4,330 16% Client homes without water % #

0 0% Client homes without electricity % #

7,849 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. % #

812 3% Clients who don’t own their home % #

0 0% Head of household with primary education or less % #

5,451 28% Client homes without water % #

0 0% Client homes without electricity % #

11,291 58% Client homes without access to Internet % #

195 1% Clients who don’t own their home % #

575 3% Head of household with primary education or less % #

29,440 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. % #

10,240 16% Client homes without electricity % #

30,720 48% Client homes without access to Internet % #

33,280 52% Clients who don’t own their home % #

6,941 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. % #

995 8% Client homes without water % #

0 0% Client homes without electricity % #

2,487 20% Client homes without access to Internet % #

1,492 12% Clients who don’t own their home % #

4,675 38% Head of household with primary education or less % #

24,555 15% Client homes without water % #

1,254 1% Client homes without electricity % #

96,899 57% Client homes without access to Internet % #

5,665 3% Clients who don’t own their home % #

8,816 5% Head of household with primary education or less % #

226,338 31% Client homes without water Every FINCA region has clients who lack this basic service, including places like Tajikistan, Honduras and Afghanistan. % #

124,356 17% Client homes without electricity Outside of Africa, Honduras has the highest percentage of borrowers who lack electricity in their homes. % #

441,298 60% Client homes without access to Internet % #

146,632 20% Clients who don’t own their home % #

259,602 35% 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. % #

3,328 15% Client homes without water % #

2,219 10% Client homes without electricity % #

9,318 42% Client homes without access to Internet % #

3,328 15% Clients who don’t own their home % #

17,060 77% Head of household with primary education or less This is the second-highest percentage in the world, just after Afghanistan. % #

7,723 13% Client homes without water % #

23,169 39% Client homes without electricity % #

32,436 55% Client homes without access to Internet % #

19,604 33% Clients who don’t own their home % #

32,614 55% Head of household with primary education or less % #

5,904 30% Client homes without water % #

5,314 27% Client homes without electricity % #

10,037 51% Client homes without access to Internet % #

2,755 14% Clients who don’t own their home % #

13,454 68% Head of household with primary education or less % #

1,764 6% Client homes without water % #

294 1% Client homes without electricity % #

1,764 6% Client homes without access to Internet % #

11,762 40% Clients who don’t own their home % #

3,529 12% Head of household with primary education or less % #

2,960 13% Client homes without water Water quality is a common problem for rural households, which often rely on domestic wells with inadequate sanitation systems. % #

0 0% Client homes without electricity % #

4,554 20% Client homes without access to Internet % #

455 2% Clients who don’t own their home % #

6,216 27% Head of household with primary education or less This is 10x the regional average. Lower levels of education are especially common among women. % #

1,474 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. % #

737 1% Client homes without electricity % #

53,819 73% Client homes without access to Internet This is about 20 percentage points higher than in the overall region (55%). % #

3,686 5% Clients who don’t own their home % #

681 1% Head of household with primary education or less % #

17,949 16% Client homes without water % #

30,701 27% Client homes without electricity % #

54,278 48% Client homes without access to Internet % #

27,179 24% Clients who don’t own their home % #

67,804 60% Head of household with primary education or less % #

53,313 53% Client homes without water % #

53,313 53% Client homes without electricity More clients lack electricity in Malawi than anywhere else in the region. % #

67,396 67% Client homes without access to Internet High taxes and poor infrastructure, among other obstacles, make access to the Internet prohibitively costly, % #

31,183 31% Clients who don’t own their home % #

52,810 53% Head of household with primary education or less % #

71,898 31% Client homes without water % #

2,357 1% Client homes without electricity % #

148,220 63% Client homes without access to Internet % #

30,327 13% Clients who don’t own their home % #

86,460 37% 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. % #

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.

DONATE

70,134 34% Client homes without water Urbanization is putting even more strain on the water resources, especially in the rapidly-growing cities. % #

2,063 1% Client homes without electricity % #

146,455 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. % #

18,565 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. % #

82,931 40% Head of household with primary education or less % #

10,340 40% Client homes without water Outside of Africa, only Afghanistan has a higher share of customers without this basic service. % #

517 2% Client homes without electricity % #

19,387 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. % #

517 2% Clients who don’t own their home % #

1,344 5% Head of household with primary education or less % #

16,502 55% Client homes without water % #

15,002 50% Client homes without electricity % #

24,003 80% Client homes without access to Internet % #

10,981 37% Clients who don’t own their home % #

23,236 77% Head of household with primary education or less The educational levels in Tanzania are much lower than in the other African countries. % #

9,881 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. % #

10,118 51% Client homes without electricity The electrical grid in Uganda is extremely limited and poorly maintained. % #

15,612 79% Client homes without access to Internet % #

5,731 29% Clients who don’t own their home This indicator is high throughout Africa. % #

11,067 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. % #

2,799 49% Client homes without water % #

1,371 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. % #

4,170 73% Client homes without access to Internet % #

2,285 40% Clients who don’t own their home % #

2,468 43% Head of household with primary education or less % #

Living Standards

Living Standards Data

Help Us Change More Lives

© 2022 FINCA International

Contact Our Research Team

Visit FINCA.org

Contact Our Research Team

© 2022 FINCA International

Visit FINCA.org