FIGURE 1.5 <!-- Start of picture text --> Account penetration in G-7 countries by household income<br>Adults with an account (%), 2014<br>Poorest 40% of households Richest 60% of households<br>100<br>75<br>50<br>25<br>0<br>Canada France Germany Italy Japan United United<br>Kingdom States<br>Source: Global Findex database.<br><!-- End of picture text --> penetration between adults in the poorest 40 percent of households and those in the richest 60 percent—and the share of adults with an account exceeds 95 percent in the poorer group. In the United States, by contrast, the data show a gap of 11 percentage points in account penetration between the two groups, with only 87 percent of adults in the poorer group having an account. In Italy, where account penetration is slightly lower than in the other G-7 countries, the data show a gap of 7 percentage points between the two groups.

On average in developing economies, account penetration in the richest 20 percent of households—the richest income quintile—is 68 percent (figure 1.6). This is 25 percentage points higher on average than in the poorest income quintile in these economies—but about 20 percentage points lower on average than in the poorest income quintile in high-income OECD economies. Comparisons within developing regions reveal some large variations across income quintiles. In the Middle East ac-

> FIGURE 1.6

<!-- Start of picture text --> Account penetration in developing economies<br>by within-economy income quintile, 2011 and 2014<br>Adults with an account (%)<br>2011 2014<br>Poorest 43<br>Q2 48<br>Q3 52<br>Q4 59<br>Richest 68<br>Source: Global Findex database.<br><!-- End of picture text --> <!-- Start of picture text --> Account penetration in developing economies<br>by within-economy income quintile, 2011 and 2014<br>Adults with an account (%)<br><!-- End of picture text --> count penetration in economies’ richest income quintile averages more than four times that in their poorest quintile. In East Asia and the Pacific and Europe and Central Asia, by contrast, account penetration in economies’ richest income quintile averages only about 50 percent higher than in their poorest one.

Between 2011 and 2014 in developing economies, against a backdrop of overall increasing account ownership, the average gap in account penetration between adults in the poorest 40 percent of households and those in the richest 60 percent narrowed by 6 percentage points—to 14 percentage points. This narrowing of the gap was due to the enormous growth in account ownership among adults in the poorest 40 percent of households within economies in East Asia and the Pacific: account penetration increased by more than 50 percent for these adults, from 39 percent on average in 2011 to 61 percent in 2014. This reduced the average gap in the region by half, from 27 percentage points to 13 (see box 1.3 below for a detailed look at China). In all other regions the gap remained about the same.

# _The gender gap_

Globally, 65 percent of men reported having an account in 2014, while only 58 percent of women did (figure 1.7). In high-income OECD economies there is virtually no gender gap in account ownership. But in developing economies, where account penetration increased by 13 percentage points for both men and women between 2011 and 2014, the gender gap remains a steady 9 percentage points: while 59 percent of men reported having an account in 2014, only 50 percent of women did.

> THE GLOBAL FINDEX DATABASE 15