Women own only 21% of money in bank accounts, shows NSO report

MUMBAI: One out of every three bank accounts in the country is held by a woman, which may seem like a promising statistic. However, the downside is that women hold only one-fifth of the total amount in these accounts

Out of the total 2.52 billion individual accounts, women held 917.77 million, accounting for 36.4 percent, according to the recently released National Statistical Office (NSO) report titled ‘Men and Women.

On the other hand, the share of total money deposited in the accounts belonging to women stood at 20.8 per cent (Rs 39 trillion) of the total Rs 187 trillion

These individual accounts include accounts belonging to Hindu undivided families, resident individuals, farmers, traders, professionals and self-employed people, and wage and salary earners, among others.

Rural areas

The disparity in financial status between men and women is particularly stark in metropolitan areas, where only 16.5 percent (Rs1.9 trillion) of the total deposits belong to women, compared to 30 percent (₹5.91 trillion) in rural areas. This gap may be attributed to the widespread proliferation of Jan Dhan accounts in rural and semi-urban India.

The report also highlights that only one in every four bank employees is a woman, with the total number of female bank employees standing at 441,000 compared to 1.32 million male employees.

Decision-making roles

Additionally, the report sheds light on the representation of women in corporate decision-making roles. In 2023, only 34,879 women held senior management positions, compared to 186,000 men. Women accounted for 762,000 of the total board of directors, while men held 1.9 million positions. In other managerial roles within corporate firms, there were 738,000 women compared to 1.86 million men, according to data from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

Although the number of women in senior management roles increased from 23,685 in 2017 to 34,879 in 2023, the corresponding increase for men—from 150,300 to 186,900—was higher in percentage terms.

Senior management positions include roles such as Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Company Secretary, Managing Director, Manager, and Whole-Time Director, while middle management roles encompass positions like Additional Director, Alternate Director, Nominee Director, and Director.