Data from the 2011 Financial Access Survey (FAS), an annual survey on access to basic consumer financial services worldwide, are now available to subscribers and public users of IMF eLibrary Data.

Accessing Data

Predefined FAS data reports can be accessed by selecting "Financial Access Survey (FAS)" from the "Data Source" menu on the top left of the eLibrary Data homepage. You can create your own customized view of FAS data using Query Builder.

Coverage

The data include indicators and underlying series for the number of depositors and borrowers, the volume of outstanding loans and deposits, the number of financial corporations and their branches, and the number of ATMs along with other related concepts for about 135 countries for the period 2004 through 2010. Both country-specific and cross-country data are available allowing for comparisons across countries and time.

Frequency and Updates

The FAS is an annual exercise. The first data comprising annual data for about 140 countries for the years 2004 – 2009 were released on June 30, 2010.

Background

The FAS data collection effort, with initial financial support from the government of Netherlands, complements the work done by the United Nations and the World Bank in the context of the UN Advisors Group on Inclusive Financial Sectors in which the IMF is represented. To foster use of common methodology in the survey data, the definitions, types of financial institutional units, and financial instruments covered are consistent with the IMF’s Monetary and Financial Statistics Manual and its accompanying Compilation Guide.

For further information see the FAS homepage.