UN Women reports 37m active women-owned bank accounts in Pakistan 2025 results.
Source
UN Women — https://open.unwomen.org/en/country-results/PK. Verified in source set / retroactive normalization pending.
What it proves
Financial inclusion is a measurable empowerment dimension, though accounts do not automatically equal independence.
What it does not prove: An "active account" records a product held in a woman's name; it does not record who decides what leaves it, and many such accounts originate in transfer or digital-wallet enrolment rather than earned income. With only about one in ten women aged 15-19 reporting a say over major purchases, account ownership and financial control are separate variables that this figure collapses into one.
Memory hook: 37m women's accounts → a name on the ledger, not a hand on the money
Rebuts the claim: "Pakistani women are almost entirely outside the formal financial system" — ownership has moved at scale even where earning and decision-making have not.