Indicator 8.10.1 (a) Number of commercial bank branches per 100,000 adults and (b) number of automated teller machines (ATMs) per 100,000 adults

Goal 8: Promote sustained, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.

Target 8.10: Strengthen the capacity of domestic financial institutions to encourage and expand access to banking, insurance and financial services for all.

Indicator 8.10.1:  (a) Number of commercial bank branches per 100,000 adults and (b) number of automated teller machines (ATMs) per 100,000 adults.

November, 2021

Not Applicable

Bank of Uganda

Constance Kabibi

Statistics Department

Head, Quality Assurance and Data Dissemination Section

+256 0312 392000

P.O. Box 7120 Kampala

statistics_dissemination@bou.or.ug

Definition

The number of commercial bank branches per 100,000 adults. The number of automated teller machines (ATMs) per 100,000 adults.

Concepts

The number of commercial bank branches refers to the total number of commercial bank branches in the country reported annually by Bank of Uganda.  To make the indicator meaningful for cross-country comparison, the number of commercial bank branches is scaled per 100,000 adults. 

The number of automated teller machines (ATMs) refers to the number of ATMs in the country for all types of financial institutions such as: commercial banks, non-deposit taking microfinance institutions, deposit taking micro finance institutions, credit unions and credit cooperatives, and other deposit takers. This information is reported annually by Bank of Uganda.  To make the indicator meaningful for cross-country comparison, the number of ATMs is scaled per 100,000 adults. 

Number

Not Applicable 

The indicators are collected on an annual basis since 2009, covering the period 2004-2019. Information is collected from all financial institutions supervised by the central bank through a survey and compiled to produce the indicators.  

The data is collected through annual returns provided by the financial institutions and is submitted to the central bank electronically.

Every year for the data referring to the previous year

Released to the public by July of the following year.

Financial institutions supervised by the Bank of Uganda

Financial Inclusion Division in the Bank of Uganda

The Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) is responsible for collecting, compiling, analyzing, and disseminating national statistics. Section 21 of the Uganda Bureau of Statistics Act, 1998 empowers it to delegate authority to other institutions to compile and disseminate specified statistical data. There is a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed between UBOS, the BOU, and the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA), in which UBOS delegated to the BOU the power to collect, compile, and disseminate monetary and external sector statistics. Therefore, the Bank of Uganda collects data and compiles the Depository Corporations Survey under permission from the Uganda Bureau of Statistics. The activities of the Bank of Uganda are governed by the Bank of Uganda Act, 2000. With regard to data compilation, Article 40, subsection 1 of this Act requires that “every financial institution shall furnish to the Bank in a manner prescribed by statutory instrument all information that may be required by the Bank for the proper discharge of its functions”. Data dissemination functions are granted to BOU by Article 40 subsection 2 which states that “the Bank may publish in whole or in part information furnished to it under subsection 1 as the Board may determine”

Access to and use of formal financial services is essential. Services such as savings, insurance, payments, credit, and remittances allow people to manage their lives, plan and pay expenses, grow their businesses, and improve their overall welfare. As banks remain one of the key institutions for access to formal financial services, having an accessible bank branch is an important initial point of access to financial services and therefore use of them. Bank branches are complemented by other important points of access such as automated teller machines of all formal financial institutions, which can extend financial services to remote locations. 

The central bank reports yearly information including the two indicators that are part of the SDGs.

The indicators are calculated based on data collected directly from the financial institutions and consolidated by the central bank. The formula to obtain these indicators are:

The FAS questionnaire that is submitted by financial institutions to the central bank has built-in consistency checks to help data reporters spot inconsistencies in data reporting. Once the data is reported to the bank, it undergoes a round of automated validation checks. If any inconsistency is detected, the Financial Inclusion Team engages with the financial institutions for clarifications or adjustments to the data provided. Any additional relevant information pertinent to the data reported, can be added through the metadata portal in ICS. 

These indicators are collected as part of the Financial Access Survey (FAS). Information collected by the FAS relies on the “FAS Guidelines and Manual”, which is published every year in English and several other languages. To foster the use of a common methodology, the definitions of financial institutional units and instruments covered in the FAS are primarily based on the IMF’s Monetary and Financial Statistics Manual and Compilation Guide (http://imf.org/). The FAS also publishes a Glossary for FAS indicators.

The FAS questionnaire has built-in consistency checks to help data reporters spot inconsistencies in data reporting. Once the data is reported to the central bank, it is consolidated, and it undergoes careful review by the Financial Inclusion team. The analytical work on the reported data also aids spotting and correcting inconsistencies in the data, if any.

The data submitted by the financial institutions is validated within the Bank and any queries are made directly to the financial institution. FAS data are submitted to IMF through the ICS and further validations made. Any inconsistencies and queries are directed to the central bank.

The quality of the source data for the indicators is vetted through other datasets provided by the financial institutions to ensure that the data is coherent. Furthermore, any deviations from the FAS methodology or fluctuations are reported to IMF in the metadata, which is available on the FAS data portal.

Data availability:

The indicators are expressed as ratios to adult population to facilitate cross-country comparisons.

Time series:

2004-2019; on an annual basis.

Disaggregation:

Data are provided at financial institution level, by year. Aggregates are compiled by the central bank for the country in accordance with UN suggested regional aggregations.

The indicators are part of the Financial Access Survey, which is a supply-side database based on administrative data from central banks or other main financial regulators. The data collection is centralized at the Bank of Uganda, which sources data from financial institutions and financial services providers for series for which data are available. The Bank reports aggregates for the total economy to the FAS. The FAS provides country-level metadata that explain the institutional coverage of each reporting economy.

URL: http://data.imf.org/fas

References FAS website: http://data.imf.org/fas