The OECD International Network on Financial Education (INFE) has developed research and tools designed to help policy makers designing and implementing National Strategies for Financial Education.

OECD/INFE High-level Principles on National Strategies for Financial Education

G20 leaders meeting in Los Cabos, Mexico, have endorsed the OECD/INFE High-level Principles on National Strategies for Financial Education. This important endorsement further reinforces the role of the Principles as one of the key global guidance instruments on financial education and awareness and as an overarching policy instrument. It offers governments and public authorities non-binding international guidance and policy options in order to develop efficient national strategies for financial education.

The G20 leaders’ endorsement proves that financial education has become an important complement to market conduct and prudential regulation, and that improving individual financial behaviours has become a long-term policy priority in many countries.

These Principles complement as an overarching framework the series of recommendations and standards already produced and endorsed by INFE and, in most cases, the OECD Council on these issues.

The rationale behind the development of the Principles lies in the increasing amount of attention and resources spent on financial education by governments and public authorities worldwide. As the amount of resources has increased, so has the importance of ensuring the efficiency and relevance of these programmes and their long term impact. In this respect, the establishment of co-ordinated and tailored strategies at national level has been widely considered to be one of the best means to achieve these efficiency goals while avoiding duplication of resources and efforts. However such national endeavours have often proved to be challenging notably due to limited long-term commitment from concerned stakeholders, difficult co‑operation between them, competing interests and mandates, lack of financial and in-kind resources and other implementation issues.

Working Paper: Current Status of National Strategies for Financial Education: A Comparative Analysis and Relevant Practices 

In both developing and developed economies, the awareness of the importance of financial education led to the development of an increasing number of tailored national strategies for financial education. The comparative analysis shows how countries overcame a series of challenges such as lack of resources, the identification a leading institution, gathering all stakeholders around common objectives and move efficiently to the operational phase. The experiences analysed in this report provide a global picture of the situation in 2011/12 and a selection of relevant solutions and tools to address these issues in a replicable way.

Current Status of National Strategies for Financial Education: A Comparative Analysis and Relevant Practices, OECD Working Papers on Finance, Insurance and Private Pensions, No. 16, OECD Publishing.

OECD INFE High-level principles

OECD/INFE High-level Principles on National Strategies for Financial Education (pdf, 0.6MB)

Working Paper

Related material

OECD Recommendation on Principles and Good Practices for Financial Education and Awareness, 2005 (pdf, 26KB)

For further information

Please contact:
Ms. Flore-Anne Messy
Tel: +33 1 45249656
Email: flore-anne.messy@oecd.org