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•60.4m remain financially vulnerable despite inclusion gains •5.2% citizens insured
From Adanna Nnamani, Abuja
Only 10.6 per cent of formally financially included Nigerian adults can raise N156,000 within seven days without difficulty.
This is according to the 2026 Access to Financial Services in Nigeria (A2F) Survey conducted by Enhancing Financial Innovation & Access (EFInA) and weighted by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The survey showed that Nigeria’s formal financial inclusion rate rose to 73 per cent in 2026, exceeding the 70 per cent target under the National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS).
However, only 30.7 per cent of formally included adults were classified as financially healthy, leaving approximately 60.4 million formally included adults financially vulnerable or merely coping.
The report found that while formally included Nigerians were more likely to have access to financial services, access did not necessarily translate into the ability to withstand financial shocks.
It said only 10.6 per cent of formally included adults could raise N156,000 within seven days without difficulty, compared with 3.7 per cent among adults who were not formally included.
Overall financial inclusion, covering both formal and informal access, increased to 79 per cent in 2026 from 74 per cent in 2023 and 68 per cent in 2020.
Formal financial inclusion also rose from 64 per cent in 2023 and 56 per cent in 2020 to 73 per cent in 2026, representing about 87.2 million adults.
But the report said the improvement in access had not translated proportionately into financial health, creating a 48-percentage-point gap between formal financial inclusion and financial health.
According to the survey, only about 25 per cent of Nigerian adults overall were financially healthy, compared with the 73 per cent who were formally included. The report described the risk of expanding financial access without corresponding improvements in financial health as “participation without progress”.
The changing pattern of borrowing also emerged as a concern, with Nigerians increasingly using formal credit for coping and consumption rather than productive activities.
Formal credit use increased to about 10 per cent of adults, equivalent to 11.9 million people, from six per cent in 2023.
However, the share of formal borrowers using credit for coping or consumption rose from 31.7 per cent in 2023 to 40.8 per cent in 2026.
By contrast, productive enterprise borrowing declined from 40.2 per cent to 34.3 per cent, while household-asset borrowing fell from 25.2 per cent to 23.4 per cent.
The shift represents a reversal from 2023, when productive borrowing exceeded coping and consumption borrowing by 8.5 percentage points.
By 2026, coping and consumption borrowing exceeded productive enterprise borrowing by 6.5 percentage points, representing a swing of about 15 percentage points.
The report also found that formal credit use among informally employed Nigerians increased from five per cent to 15 per cent, while usage among adults aged 18 to 35 doubled from four per cent to 10 per cent.
However, access to credit was accompanied by significant financial pressure, as 45.8 per cent of formal-credit users reported some or serious repayment stress, while 83.8 per cent experienced ongoing financial stress.
Insurance coverage remained particularly low despite the expansion of formal financial services.
Formal insurance penetration stood at only 5.2 per cent, equivalent to approximately 6.2 million adults, while pension participation covered about nine per cent of adults.
The survey found that about 93 per cent of formally included adults, representing roughly 81 million people, remained uninsured.
It also found that 59.9 per cent of insured adults were financially healthy, suggesting a link between insurance coverage and greater financial resilience.
The gains in financial inclusion were also uneven across geographical and demographic groups.
The urban-rural formal inclusion gap widened from 24 percentage points to 27 percentage points, with formal inclusion reaching 85 per cent among urban adults compared with 58 per cent in rural areas.
The South-West recorded the highest formal inclusion rate at 96.4 per cent, compared with 61.4 per cent in the North-East and 62.7 per cent in the North-West.
Digital financial services recorded significant growth, rising from 45 per cent in 2023 to 64.4 per cent in 2026, equivalent to about 77 million adults.
However, digital financial service usage remained significantly higher among urban residents, at 78 per cent, compared with 47 per cent among rural adults.
Men also recorded higher usage at 70.5 per cent, compared with 58 per cent among women.
Trust was identified as another important factor influencing the continued use of formal financial services.
The survey showed that 96.9 per cent of consumers who trusted their financial service provider had used the provider within the previous 90 days, compared with 65.6 per cent among consumers who distrusted their provider.
The report said fraud control, service reliability, transparent pricing, data protection and effective complaint resolution were important to achieving meaningful and sustained financial inclusion.
It noted that Nigeria had made greater progress in bringing adults into formal accounts, payments and digital financial services than in providing products capable of strengthening their financial resilience and long-term security.
The survey covered 18,679 adults across all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, achieving 98 per cent of its target sample of 18,950 interviews.
Household listing and data collection were conducted between April and June 2026.
The findings suggest that the next phase of Nigeria’s financial inclusion drive will need to focus not only on expanding access, but also on ensuring that financial services help households withstand shocks, reduce financial stress, protect against risks and channel credit towards productive economic activity.
