finance - Lucas Hayas

MasterCard: Financial Literacy Stalls in Asia Pacific Region

April 15, 2015         By: Melanie Macinas

The level of financial literacy in the Asia-Pacific region has gone backwards in 2014, as 12 of 16 countries achieve lower scores in the most recent Financial Literacy Index.

MasterCard’s Financial Literacy Index measures basic financial knowledge and skills among consumers around the world.

MasterCard Financial Literacy

Taiwan overtakes New Zealand and Hong Kong on the index, with Kiwis and Taiwanese aged more than 30 years old being the most financially literate in the region, according to the index, released ahead of the World Economic Forum on East Asia on April 19 to 21.

Singapore records the biggest decline in score in the region dropping from 2nd to 6th place.

While developed countries usually rank higher than emerging markets, Japan stays in the bottom spot for the third straight year.

India sees the most improvement among the emerging markets, placing 12th in the region and almost on par with South Korea at 13.

China ranks first when it comes to ‘Investment Know-How’ but it is one of the worst performers in ‘Basic Money Management.’

While the majority of people in the Asia-Pacific know how to ‘Budget’ and ‘Save Regularly,’ knowledge of ‘Retirement fund needed’ is low in both emerging and developed markets.

The gender gap in financial literacy is also higher in developed markets compared to emerging markets, with South Korea having the widest gender parity gap, followed by Hong Kong and Australia, results showed.