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Over 60m Adults Remain Vulnerable as Nigeria Hits 73% Financial Inclusion Target
Nigeria’s formal financial inclusion has risen to 73 per cent in 2026, exceeding the 70 per cent target under the National Financial Inclusion Strategy, yet only 30.7 per cent of formally included adults are financially healthy, leaving about 60.4 million adults financially vulnerable.
This is according to the 2026 Access to Financial Services in Nigeria (A2F) Survey by Enhancing Financial Innovation & Access (EFInA), weighted by the National Bureau of Statistics.
The survey covered 18,679 adults across the 36 states and FCT between April and June 2026, achieving 98 per cent of its 18,950 target sample.
According to the report, overall inclusion — formal and informal — rose to 79 per cent from 74 per cent in 2023 and 68 per cent in 2020. Formal inclusion climbed to 73 per cent, representing about 87.2 million adults, from 64 per cent in 2023 and 56 per cent in 2020.
Digital financial services grew faster, rising from 45 per cent in 2023 to 64.4 per cent, equivalent to about 77 million adults.
However, access has not translated into resilience. Only about 25 per cent of Nigerian adults overall are financially healthy, compared with 73 per cent formally included — a 48 percentage-point “access-health gap.”
Only 10.6 per cent of formally included adults can raise N156,000 within seven days without difficulty, compared with 3.7 per cent among the excluded.
*Coping Loans Overtake Productive Borrowing*
Formal credit use rose to about 10 per cent of adults, or 11.9 million people, from 6 per cent in 2023, but remains below the 40 per cent NFIS target.
The composition of borrowing changed sharply. Coping and consumption became the largest purpose for formal borrowing, rising from 31.7 per cent in 2023 to 40.8 per cent in 2026, up 9.1 points.
Productive enterprise borrowing fell from 40.2 per cent to 34.3 per cent, while household-asset borrowing declined to 23.4 per cent from 25.2 per cent.
In 2023, productive borrowing exceeded coping by 8.5 points. By 2026, coping led productive by 6.5 points — a swing of about 15 points.
Formal credit use among informally employed Nigerians rose from 5 per cent to 15 per cent, and among 18-35 year-olds, doubled from 4 per cent to 10 per cent. About 45.8 per cent of formal-credit users reported repayment stress, while 83.8 per cent reported ongoing financial stress.
*Insurance, Inclusion Gaps Persist*
Formal insurance penetration stood at only 5.2 per cent, or about 6.2 million adults, while pension covered about 9 per cent.
About 93 per cent of formally included adults, or roughly 81 million people, remain uninsured. However, 59.9 per cent of insured adults are classified as financially healthy.
Regional and demographic gaps remain wide. Urban formal inclusion reached 85 per cent versus 58 per cent rural, widening the gap from 24 to 27 points. Formal inclusion stood at 96.4 per cent in the South-West, compared with 61.4 per cent in the North-East and 62.7 per cent in the North-West.
Digital services reached 78 per cent of urban adults but 47 per cent rural, and 70.5 per cent of men versus 58 per cent of women.
The report notes trust is critical: 96.9 per cent of consumers who trusted their provider had used it within 90 days, compared with 65.6 per cent among those who distrusted.
EFInA described the risk as “participation without progress” and said the next challenge is translating access into resilience, productive use, fraud control, reliability, transparent pricing, data protection and effective complaint resolution.
