RBI's financial inclusion index printed at 60.1% in March 2023, shows data

The Financial Inclusion (FI) Index of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) stood at 60.1 per cent for the financial year ending in March 2023, as compared to 56.4 per cent in March 2022, due to improvements in Usage and Quality dimensions. The value stood at 53.9 per cent in March 2021.

The FI Index was introduced in 2021 to capture the extent of financial inclusion throughout the country across three broad parameters: Access (35 per cent), Usage (45 per cent), and Quality (20 per cent). Each of these consists of various dimensions, which are computed based on a number of indicators.

It is a comprehensive index incorporating details of banking, investments, insurance, postal as well as the pension sector, in consultation with the Government and respective sectoral regulators.

The index captures information on various aspects of financial inclusion in a single value ranging between 0 and 100, where 0 represents complete financial exclusion and 100 indicates full financial inclusion.