Over 60 Percent of the Arab World Still Outside the Banking System

Between 2016 and 2024, the number of Egyptians with a bank account – which experts say is essential for financial inclusion - tripled, from 17.1 million to over 51 million. Even more impressively, the number of Egyptian women with an account increased by 260 percent, though gender gaps do remain. But how you widen financial inclusion overall is a question the Arab region is currently grappling with.

A new report from the UN Economic and Social Commission in Western Asia (UNESCWA) published on Thursday highlights the challenge. Nearly 64 percent of adults in the 22 countries in the Arab region are still without an account – or “unbanked”, a higher number than all other regions of the world and significantly higher than the 24 percent global average.