Measuring Our Impact
Guatemala
With over 16 million inhabitants, Guatemala is the most populous country in Central America. Extreme income inequality has left more than half of the population living in poverty, and the poverty rate has gone up recently, despite several years of economic growth. Malnutrition and maternal mortality are endemic, especially in the rural and indigenous municipalities, where up to 80% of the population is poor.
FINCA Guatemala is one of our founding subsidiaries, dating back to 1989. The subsidiary has long maintained a strong focus on reaching women, including many who live in traditional communities throughout the country. While remaining true to FINCA's original spirit, embodied in the Village Banking model, FINCA Guatemala has also diversified its services to include individual credit, money transfers and insurance.
Financial Inclusion
Guatemala:
Reaching the Financially Excluded
Financial exclusion affects nearly 60% of adults. While this figure is not the highest in the FINCA network, it still leaves well over half of the population -- including millions of families who subsist on agriculture and small businesses -- with limited opportunities to enhance their income.
FINCA Guatemala has a strong outreach to both women and people in rural communities, which are among the highest in our network. Four out of five borrowers are female, which ranks FINCA Guatemala among the highest in the network, together with Jordan and Haiti. Meanwhile, over half of our customers live in rural areas, representing the highest rural penetration outside of Eurasia.
Living Standards
Guatemala:
Quality of Life
The level of basic services available to our customers in Guatemala is generally on par with the Latin America region overall, particularly the share of households without access to running water or electricity.
Even in a region marked by low educational levels, however, Guatemala stands out as having the highest share of households whose primary breadwinner has less than a secondary education. Making matters worse, in indigenous communities, Spanish is often spoken as a second language, if at all. This isolation reinforces the economic vulnerability of many families and makes their climb out of poverty even steeper.
Income & Employment
Guatemala:
Income & Employment
No data has been collected yet for this indicator in Guatemala.
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
Women’s Empowerment
Guatemala:
Empowering Women
The influence of traditional social norms is evident among the families we serve, particularly in the role of women. Guatemala is one of the few countries we've studied where the majority of our female borrowers are not the main source of income for their household. Afghanistan, another highly traditional society — is the other. These women are either working closely with a spouse or providing a supplemental source of income that helps the family meet basic needs.
It should be noted, however, that fully one third of the families we serve do depend primarily on a woman's income — they just aren't the majority. The prevalence of two-earner households and strong family traditions is also evident in the low incidence of single motherhood, which is infrequent as compared to regional and global averages.
In late 2017, FINCA Guatemala will complete its Enterprise Survey, which will allow for complete reporting on Women's Empowerment indicators, along with Income/Employment and Personal Aspirations.
Clients’ Goals
Guatemala:
Attaining Business and Personal Goals
No data has been collected yet for this indicator in Guatemala.
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.
DONATENo data has been collected yet for this indicator in Guatemala.
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
Special Topics
Guatemala:
Poverty, Economic Sectors, Jobs and Profits
FINCA Loan Sectors
No data has been collected yet for this indicator in Guatemala.
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.
DONATEProfit and Profit/Sales Ratio by Sector
No data has been collected yet for this indicator in Guatemala.
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.
DONATEJobs by Sector Due to FINCA Loan
No data has been collected yet for this indicator in Guatemala.
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.
DONATELatin America Stories
A One-Woman Conglomerate
It Takes a Village
