The mobile money industry has reached new heights globally, as it now become a mainstream financial service in many countries across the world.
According to the 13th edition of “The State of The Industry Report on Mobile Money 2025”, by GSMA, it revealed that mobile money reached two significant milestones in 2024, surpassing two billion registered accounts and over half a billion active monthly users across the globe.
The report finds that transaction volumes and values for mobile money accounts experienced robust double-digit growth in 2024. Approximately 108 billion transactions, totaling over $1.68 trillion, were processed through mobile money accounts in 2024. Year-on-year, transaction volumes increased by 20%, while transaction values grew by 16%, up from a 13% increase in 2023.
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Sub-Saharan Africa remains the epicenter for mobile money, with over two-thirds of registered accounts in 2024 coming from the region, while 20% of new accounts were from East Africa. There were over 1.1 billion registered accounts in Africa, twice as many as in 2020.
Compared to forecasts from 2019, the GSMA found that registered accounts grew faster than expected, as data from 2024 shows 75% more registered accounts in Sub-Saharan Africa than estimated. Growth in active 30-day accounts was driven by East Africa, which contributed 32% of new accounts in 2024, closely followed by Southeast Asia (28%).
West Africa and South Asia contributed 21% and 19%, respectively. Double-digit growth in active monthly accounts in 2024 confirmed that millions continue to rely on mobile money for their daily financial needs.
In 2024, the mobile money industry grew
nearly as quickly as in 2023. Both registered and active accounts continued to show double-digit growth. Registered accounts increased by 14% in 2024 while active 30-day accounts grew by 11%. Since 2020, the industry has consistently maintained growth rates above 10%.
GSMA revealed that the mobile money industry continues to drive financial inclusion, noting that in December 2024, 21% of adults used a mobile money account.
The Economic Impact of Mobile Money
The growing use of mobile money has continued to impact lives and livelihoods in countries where a service is offered. Rising mobile money adoption has also increased gross domestic product (GDP) in major mobile money markets. Between 2013 and 2023, a 10-percentage point increase in mobile money adoption was found to have increased GDP by 0.6% to 1.0%.
As of 2023, the total GDP of countries with a
mobile money service was more than $720 billion higher than it would have been without mobile money. This is equivalent to mobile money increasing GDP by 1.7% at the end of 2023, based on data collected between
2013 and 2023. Year on year, mobile money’s contribution to GDP in countries with a service grew from around $650 billion in 2022 to about $720 billion in 2023, an increase of nearly 12%.
At a regional level, Sub-Saharan Africa saw a significant increase in mobile money’s contribution to GDP, from about $150 billion in 2022 to $190 billion in 2023. At a sub-regional level, mobile money’s contribution to GDP in both East and West Africa had risen
though its contribution to East Africa’s economy remains higher when compared to West Africa.
Data highlights that in Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Senegal, and Liberia, mobile money contributed over 5% to the national GDP. In East Africa, similar contributions exceeding 5% were recorded in Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, and Tanzania, underscoring the technology’s transformative role in these economies.
In contrast, mobile money’s GDP impact in other Sub-Saharan regions varies. Central African nations like Cameroon, Congo, and Gabon saw contributions ranging from 5% to 8%, reflecting moderate adoption. Southern Africa, where mobile money infrastructure is less developed, generally reported contributions below 5%.
As mobile money adoption continues to expand across the continent, its economic influence is likely to grow, potentially elevating GDP contributions in regions where penetration is currently limited.