MFIs Reach Over 137 Million of World's Poorest

November 10, 2011

The Microcredit Summit Campaign reports that 3,652 microfinance institutions reached over 205 million clients in 2010; 137.5 million of those clients were classified as the poorest of the poor when they took out their first loans. Assuming an average family size of five, the money lent to those 137.5 million impacted the lives of an estimated 687.7 million of the world's poorest - that's more than the combined populations of Russia and the European Union. This according to State of MIcrocredit Summit Campaign report 2012, released today by the campaign.

The report's release precedes the Global Microcredit Summit 2011, which is being held next week in Valladolid, Spain

The Microcredit Summit was created in 1997 with a mission to help lift 100 million of the world's poor out of poverty with credit for self-employmenrt and other financial and business matters. At the time, only about 7.6 million of the poorest in the world had gained access to microcredit.

Upon reaching its initial goal in 2007, the campaign set out to add another 75 million to that total, and to see to it that 100 million of the poorest rise about the $1.25 a day poverty threshold established by the World Bank by 2015.  The campaign says it is well on its way to meeting the goal of reaching an additional 75 million poor with credit, but that it will take longer to lift 100 million out of abject poverty by 2015.

State of Microcredit Summit Campaign 2012 takes a hard look at microfinance, especially in light of the microfinance meltdown in southern India last fall. "While our progress has been stunning, the challenges in Andre Pradesh and elsewhere will take a toll," said Sam Daley-Harris, the campaign's director.  

The report also highlights achievements in reaching poor women, estimating that between 1999 and 2010, the number of the world's poorest women reached by microlenders grew from 10.3 million to 113.1 million.

"As a microfinance community, we need to shift our foucs from outreach to results," said Larry Reed, incoming director of the campaign.

Americans use nonbanks to cash $60 billion in checks yearly

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