Data for 2011 and 2014 has been sourced from the World Bank's Global Findex (Global Financial Inclusion) Database [available at: http://databank.worldbank.org/data/reports], which provides several measures of financial access. The dataset presented here is 'Account at a financial institution (% age 15+)'. This dataset is predominantly sourced from household and census survey data. The World Bank defines this parameter as:

"the percentage of respondents who report having an account (by themselves or together with someone else) at a bank or another type of financial institution; having a debit card in their own name; receiving wages, government transfers, or payments for agricultural products into an account at a financial institution in the past 12 months; paying utility bills or school fees from an account at a financial institution in the past 12 months; or receiving wages or government transfers into a card in the past 12 months (% age 15+).

Earlier global estimates of global access to financial services are less certain. To present earlier estimates, we have relied on composite measures of financial access reported in the World Bank's publication 'Finance for All?: Policies and Pitfalls in Expanding Access' (2008). The sources from which the World Bank draws upon for this composite indicator are referenced below.

The World Bank defines this composite indicator as measuring "the percentage of the adult population with access to an account with a financial intermediary. The indicator is constructed as follows: for any country with data on access from a household survey, the surveyed percentage is given. For other countries, the percentage is constructed as a function of the estimated number and average size of bank accounts as discussed in Honohan (2007). These numbers are subject to estimation error."

It should also be noted that while the majority of data is reported for the year 2005, some are sourced from earlier (thus the measurement period should be considered to extend from 2000-2005).

References:

World Bank. 2008. Finance for All? A World Bank Policy Research Report. Available at: http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTFINFORALL/Resources/4099583-1194373512632/FFA_book.pdf [accessed 25/05/2017]

Honohan. 2006. “Household Financial Assets in the Process of Development.” Policy Research Working Paper 3965, World Bank, Washington DC.

Christen, Robert Peck, Veena Jayadeva, and Richard Rosenberg. 2004. “Financial Institutions with a Double Bottom Line: Implications for the Future of Microfi nance.” CGAP Occasional Paper 8, Consultative Group to Assist the Poorest, Washington DC.

Beck, Thorsten, Aslı Demirgüç-Kunt, and Maria Soledad Martinez Peria. 2007. “Reaching Out: Access to and Use of Banking Services across Countries.” Journal of Financial Economics 85 (1): 234–66.

Peachey, Stephen, and Alan Roe. 2006. “Access to Finance: Measuring the Contribution of Savings Banks.” World Savings Banks Institute, Brussels, Belgium.

Sources

Data Published By: World Bank's Global Findex (Global Financial Inclusion) Database

Data publisher source:Household and census survey data.

Link: http://databank.worldbank.org/data/reports