Overview:
According to the National Labour Force Survey, 2021, which was undertaken by the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS), only nine percent of the population had a functional bank/MDI account while only three percent had an MFI/SACCO account.
Eighty seven percent of Ugandans aged 10 years and above do not own a functional bank or Sacco account, a report indicates.
According to the National Labour Force Survey, 2021, which was undertaken by the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS), only nine percent of the population had a functional bank/MDI account while only three percent had an MFI/SACCO account.
“A higher percentage of males (12%) than females (6%) had a functional Bank/MDI account. A higher percentage of the population in urban areas (17%) had functional Bank/MDI accounts compared to the population in rural areas (6%),” the report reads in part.
Considering the sub-regions, the report indicates that Kampala (27%) and Buganda South (12%) had the highest percentage of the population owning functional bank/MDI accounts while Karamoja had the lowest (4%).
“A higher percentage of males (12%) than females (6%) had a functional Bank/MDI account. A higher percentage of the population in urban areas (17%) had functional Bank/MDI accounts compared to the population in rural areas (6%),”
REPORT
The NLFS 2021 covered all the 135 Districts and 11 Cities in Uganda as of July 2020. The survey was mainly conducted for the household-based population and excluded the population in institutions and other special areas. Field data collection was spread over a period of six months which started in June and ended in December 2021.
According to an earlier report by the Deposit Protection Fund, more than 90 percent of Ugandans who hold a bank account do not keep more than sh1 million at any one time on their accounts, an indication of the low savings levels in the country.
There are an estimated 14 million bank accounts in the country. Of these, only about 2 percent have deposits totaling more than 10 million, while, of the rest, about 93 percent have less than 1 million, according to the Deposit Protection Fund.
The financial capability survey 2020 indicates that only 15 percent of Ugandans save their money in deposit-taking financial institutions regulated by the Bank of Uganda, while 17 percent save on their phones using mobile money.
However, according to the Deputy Governor of Bank of Uganda Ating-Ego, savings are being wiped out by double digit inflation which has hit 10.7 percent in October up from 10 percent in September.