Bank branches are past their peak in most countries
Commercial bank branches per 100,000 adults, latest year vs each country's peak since 2004. Yellow: 15%+ below peak.
- 1. Central banks now hold more gold than Treasuries or euros
- 2. China now pays the world mostly in yuan
- 3. Migrants now send home four times all foreign aid
- 4. Tether now holds more US Treasuries than the UAE
- 5. Developing countries' interest bill has nearly tripled since 2010
- 6. Poles edge past the Japanese in income per person
- 7. In dollars, Nigeria's economy has more than halved since 2014
- 8. Argentina's monthly inflation fell from 25.5% to 1.9%
- 9. Guyana now produces more per person than America
- 10. Ukraine received four times the aid of any other country
- 11. Singapore now draws twice as much foreign investment as China
- 12. 22 governments now owe more than a year's national output
- 13. Money sent home to Guatemala nearly quadrupled in ten years
- 14. In purchasing power, Russia's economy is now bigger than Japan's
- 15. Colombians abroad now send home more than foreigners invest
- 16. 72 countries now pay China more than it lends them
- 17. Pakistan rose to first place in Chinese energy finance
- 18. Money sent home now tops half of Tajikistan's economy
- 19. Pakistan passed India in tech's share of services exports
- 20. Mongolia leapt from 2% to 58% paying utilities by phone
- 21. Smaller currencies' share of world reserves has more than doubled
- 22. Phone savers now outnumber bank savers in 32 countries
- 23. Uzbekistan now receives more than twice Ukraine's remittances
- 24. Fewer countries owe China more than the World Bank
- 25. Poorer countries now owe Saudi Arabia more than America
- 26. Cambodia's bank lending grew from 8% to 121% of GDP
- 27. Egypt tripled its ATMs per adult in ten years
- 28. Bank branches are past their peak in most countries
- 29. Guinea rose from 17th to second for investment in Africa
countries are at least 15% below their peak in bank branches per adult, including 25 of 28 in Latin America.
The Netherlands went from 33.7 branches per 100,000 adults in 2004 to 4.0 in 2024, the steepest fall.
South Asian countries are past their peak: India's 14.6 per 100,000 adults in 2024 is its highest yet.
the numbers & method
| Country | Value (%) |
|---|---|
| GIN | 0 |
| GNB | 0 |
| IND | 0 |
| MHL | 0 |
| MRT | 0 |
| PAK | 0 |
| UZB | 0 |
| CPV | -1 |
| KHM | -1 |
| NPL | -1 |
| TUN | -1 |
| BGD | -2 |
| CHN | -2 |
| JPN | -2 |
| EGY | -3 |
| LKA | -3 |
| MAC | -3 |
| LAO | -4 |
| MDG | -5 |
| SEN | -6 |
| ARM | -7 |
| DZA | -7 |
| GEO | -7 |
| ARG | -8 |
| GUY | -8 |
| MDV | -8 |
| BFA | -10 |
| FSM | -10 |
| LSO | -10 |
| PSE | -10 |
| MKD | -11 |
| PHL | -11 |
| BIH | -12 |
| DOM | -12 |
| DJI | -13 |
| NER | -13 |
| TZA | -13 |
| BWA | -14 |
| VCT | -15 |
| FJI | -16 |
| MNG | -16 |
| GMB | -17 |
| SUR | -17 |
| NIC | -18 |
| MAR | -19 |
| SWZ | -19 |
| KGZ | -20 |
| MEX | -20 |
| MNE | -20 |
| XKX | -20 |
| KEN | -21 |
| TTO | -22 |
| VNM | -23 |
| ZAF | -24 |
| ALB | -25 |
| MOZ | -25 |
| SAU | -25 |
| SLV | -25 |
| BRA | -26 |
| PAN | -26 |
| WSM | -26 |
| CAN | -27 |
| HKG | -27 |
| COL | -28 |
| USA | -28 |
| TUR | -29 |
| BHR | -30 |
| HND | -30 |
| PRY | -30 |
| BEN | -32 |
| JOR | -32 |
| SVK | -32 |
| SLE | -33 |
| UGA | -33 |
| HRV | -34 |
| KOR | -34 |
| THA | -34 |
| CRI | -35 |
| MLI | -36 |
| IRQ | -37 |
| KWT | -37 |
| MUS | -37 |
| POL | -37 |
| BRB | -38 |
| ECU | -38 |
| ISR | -38 |
| URY | -38 |
| CZE | -40 |
| LBN | -40 |
| SYC | -40 |
| LCA | -41 |
| AZE | -42 |
| BHS | -43 |
| CHE | -44 |
| ROU | -44 |
| RUS | -45 |
| SRB | -45 |
| TJK | -45 |
| ZMB | -45 |
| MYS | -46 |
| PER | -46 |
| BLZ | -47 |
| NAM | -47 |
| CHL | -48 |
| NGA | -48 |
| SGP | -49 |
| KNA | -50 |
| MLT | -50 |
| AUS | -51 |
| ITA | -51 |
| ABW | -53 |
| ARE | -54 |
| DMA | -54 |
| GRD | -54 |
| SVN | -55 |
| SMR | -56 |
| ATG | -57 |
| LUX | -58 |
| SWE | -58 |
| NZL | -59 |
| STP | -59 |
| GRC | -64 |
| BEL | -68 |
| DNK | -68 |
| DEU | -69 |
| ESP | -70 |
| CYP | -72 |
| EST | -74 |
| ISL | -78 |
| NLD | -88 |
Claim types Fact
World Bank WDI indicator FB.CBK.BRCH.P5 (commercial bank branches per 100,000 adults, from the IMF Financial Access Survey), edition last updated 8 Oct 2026, 2004–2024. Map value = latest year (2023 or 2024) vs the country's highest value since 2004, % change (progrss calculation). Countries shown: 130 with at least 12 years of data, a value in 2023 or 2024, and no single-year jump of more than 50% up or down. 27 countries are left out because a jump that size usually means a break in how branches were counted (Angola, Austria, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Comoros, Côte d'Ivoire, Finland, France, Ghana, Guatemala, Hungary, Indonesia, Jamaica, Latvia, Liberia, Lithuania, Malawi, Moldova, Portugal, Rwanda, Solomon Islands, South Sudan, Timor-Leste, Togo, Ukraine, Zimbabwe). Yellow = at least 15% below peak, with the peak at least 3 years before the latest year: 90 of 130. By region: Latin America 25 of 28, Europe and Central Asia 28 of 34, North America 2 of 2, Middle East and North Africa 10 of 16, Sub-Saharan Africa 15 of 26, East Asia and Pacific 10 of 19, South Asia 0 of 5. Netherlands 33.71 (2004) → 3.96 (2024), −88%; India 14.62 (2024, its peak); Bangladesh 9.14 (peak 9.28 in 2022), Nepal 23.82 (peak 24.03 in 2023), Sri Lanka 17.33 (peak 17.89 in 2016), Maldives 14.37 (peak 15.71 in 2019). A per-adult rate also falls when the number of branches stays flat and the adult population grows. Read from the World Bank API via the progrss vault (source wb-wdi, loaded 10 Nov 2026); headline values re-read live on api.worldbank.org on 10 Nov 2026. Licence: CC BY 4.0. Aruba (−53%, yellow) and Macao (−3%) are counted but have no tile on the map.
one plate, every morning
The new world, explained in one chart, in your inbox at 7:00, your time. Free.


