As Bolivia’s economy deteriorates, confidence in the country’s financial system is also eroding, with many opting out of the country’s banks amid fear of currency runs and deposit seizures.
New data released by the World Bank’s Global Findex Database reveals that the percentage of adults with open bank accounts and similar financial services, including GSMA-listed mobile money providers, dropped sharply from 68.9% of the adult population in 2021 to 56.8% in 2024.
This meant that Bolivia experienced the largest decline in banking penetration in Latin America. Although Chile and Colombia also saw slight decreases in the rate of account ownership, with declines of 2 and 2.6 percentage points, respectively, most other countries in the region continued to see positive growth.
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