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2022 Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Finance Survey
First Edition

Zambia, 2022 - 2026
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Reference ID
ZMB-ZSA-MSME-2022-V1.0
Producer(s)
Zambia Statistics Agency, Bank of Zambia
Metadata
Documentation in PDF DDI/XML JSON
Created on
Jan 17, 2026
Last modified
Feb 26, 2026
Page views
17217
Downloads
82
  • Study Description
  • Data Dictionary
  • Downloads
  • Get Microdata
  • Identification
  • Version
  • Scope
  • Coverage
  • Producers and sponsors
  • Sampling
  • Survey instrument
  • Data collection
  • Data Access
  • Disclaimer and copyrights
  • Contacts
  • Metadata production
  • Identification

    Survey ID number

    ZMB-ZSA-MSME-2022-V1.0

    Title

    2022 Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Finance Survey

    Subtitle

    First Edition

    Country
    Name Country code
    Zambia zmb
    Study type

    Socio-Economic/Monitoring Survey [hh/sems]

    Series Information

    The 2022 MSME survey is the first edition

    Abstract

    The 2022 MSME finance survey is a nationally representative sample survey which focused on getting information on the characteristics and financial needs of micro, small and medium enterprises. The MSME Finance Survey was conducted at household level for individuals of age 15 years or older, who owned either a micro, small or medium business.

    The primary objective of the Survey was to assess the financial access landscape for micro, small and medium businesses in Zambia. The specific objectives were as follows:

     - To assess the size and scope of MSMEs in the country; 
     - To describe the levels and landscape of access to financial products and services by MSMEs; 
     - To identify MSMEs main challenges in accessing finance; and 
     - To provide data which will inform the development of a national policy on MSME Finance.
    Kind of Data

    Sample survey data [ssd]

    Unit of Analysis

    Individual
    Household

    Version

    Version Description

    V1.0: Edited, anonymized dataset for Public distribution

    Version Date

    2025-02

    Scope

    Notes

    The scope of the 2022 MSME included three questionnaires

           ·    Listing Questionnaire;
           ·    Household Questionnaire; and
           ·    Individual Questionnaire.

    The Listing Questionnaire was administered to all households in the selected EA. It collected data on the ownership of any kind of business or farming activity to generate income by a household member and if the activity had employed one or more people. The data from the
    Listing Questionnaire was used to determine the households eligible for interviews.

    The Household Questionnaire listed all the usual household members. Basic information was collected on each person listed, including age, sex and relationship to the head of the household. The data on household members, 15 years or older, who owned a business was used to identify eligible persons for individual interviews.

    The Individual Questionnaire was used to collect information from all business owners. The business owners were asked questions on the following topics:

           ·    Background information;
           ·    Awareness of financial products;
           ·    Business details;
           ·    Employment;
           ·    Start-up capital and record keeping;
           ·    Business performance;
           ·    Access to credit;
           ·    Savings and investment;
           ·    Income and expenditure;
           ·    Business assets;
           ·    Access to market;
           ·    Business challenges;
           ·    COVID-19 and climate change;
           ·    Capacity building; and
           ·    Business closure.
    Topics
    Topic
    Financial Products and Infrastructure
    Startup Capital
    Access to Credit
    Business Characteristics
    Business Performance
    Business Assets
    Business Challenges
    Business Closure
    Employment
    Record Keeping
    Savings and Investments
    COVID-19 and Climate Change
    Keywords
    Business Capital Employment Loan Income Asset Financial products Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Credit Financial Service Provider

    Coverage

    Geographic Coverage

    National
    Rural/Urban

    Universe

    The MSME Finance Survey was conducted at household level and captured all household members and all thoser individuals of age 15 years or older, who owned either a micro, small or medium business.

    Producers and sponsors

    Primary investigators
    Name Affiliation
    Zambia Statistics Agency Ministry of Finance and National Planning
    Bank of Zambia Ministry of Finance and National Planning
    Producers
    Name Affiliation Role
    Ministry of Finance and National Planning Government Republic of Zambia Partners in Survey implementation
    Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprise Development Government Republic of Zambia Partners in Survey implementation
    Deutsche Sparkassenstiftung fu¨r Internationale Kooperation Germany government Partners in Survey implementation
    Funding Agency/Sponsor
    Name Role
    Bank of Zambia Funding for the survey
    Germany Development Cooperation Additional Funds for the survey
    Rural Finance Expansion Programme Additional Funds for the survey

    Sampling

    Sampling Procedure

    The 2010 Census of Population and Housing provided the sampling frame for selecting a nationally representative sample of areas for conducting the 2022 MSME Finance Survey.

    The MSME Finance Survey followed a stratified two-stage sample design. In the first stage, 200 clusters were selected with probability proportional to the size of the EA within the strata (rural/urban). A complete listing of households in each selected EA was conducted and formed the sampling frame for the second stage. The classification of households during the listing was based on the following criteria

             • Question on whether any member of the household owned any kind of business; and
             • Question on whether the business had one or more employees.

    Zambia has ten provinces. Each province is subdivided into districts; each district into constituencies; and each constituency into wards.

    The sample allocation was representative at the national and rural/urban levels only

    Response Rate

    The response rates for the MSME Finance Survey was at 98.8 percent. Of the 3,574 households in the sample, 3,532 were successfully interviewed.

    Weighting

    The MSME Finance Survey followed a stratified two-stage sample design.

    Survey weights were applied to adjust for the effects of sampling design such as over or under sampling and correct non-response bias. This was done to produce valid estimates for MSME's in Zambia and inferences from the data. The results from the sample are representative at the national level by rural/urban segmentation only.

    Survey instrument

    Questionnaires

    Three types of questionnaires were used in the 2022 MSME Survey

    - Listing Questionnaire;
    - Household Questionnaire; and
    - Individual Questionnaire.

    The Listing Questionnaire was administered to all households in the selected EA. It collected data on the ownership of any kind of business or farming activity to generate income by a household member and if the activity had employed one or more people. The data from the Listing Questionnaire was used to determine the households eligible for interviews.

    The Household Questionnaire listed all the usual household members. Basic information was collected on each person listed, including age, sex and relationship to the head of the household. The data on household members, 15 years or older, who owned a business was used to identify eligible persons for individual interviews.

    The Individual Questionnaire was used to collect information from all business owners. The business owners were asked questions on the following topics:

             ·  Background information;
             ·  Awareness of financial products;
             ·  Business details;
             ·  Employment;
             ·  Start-up capital and record keeping;
             ·  Business performance;
             ·  Access to credit;
             ·  Savings and investment;
             ·  Income and expenditure;
             ·  Business assets;
             ·  Access to market;
             ·  Business challenges;
             ·  COVID-19 and climate change;
             ·  Capacity building; and
             ·  Business closure.

    Data collection

    Dates of Data Collection
    Start End
    2022-06-01 2026-01-30
    Mode of data collection
    • Face-to-face [f2f]
    Data Collectors
    Name Affiliation
    Zambia Statistics Agency Ministry of Finance and National Planning
    Bank of Zambia Ministry of Finance and National Planning
    Supervision

    Interviewing was conducted by teams of interviewers. Each team consisted of one supervisor and four to five interviewers. Apart from accompanying enumerators in data collection and regularly providing feedback to Master Trainers, the main roles of the supervisor included the following

    • To conduct spot-checks on some of the selected households to ensure that enumerators visited and interviewed the correct households;
    • To review survey procedures to ensure they were complete and consistent;
    • To observe some of the interviews to ensure that enumerators were asking the questions correctly and recording the answers properly;
    • To help resolve any problems that enumerators might have with finding the assigned households, understanding the questionnaire, or dealing with difficult respondents.

    Fieldwork data monitoring was an integral part of the MSME Survey. The Master Trainers were in the field throughout the enumeration period to monitor, review the teams' work and resolve any issues that arose.

    Data Collection Notes

    Data collection was conducted from 1 to 30 June 2022 by 20 teams. Each team consisted of one supervisor and four to five interviewers. Fieldwork data monitoring was an integral part of the MSME Survey. The Master Trainers were in the field throughout the enumeration period to monitor, review the teams' work and resolve any issues that arose. During data collection, interviewers sent data to the server via internet using tablets

    Data Access

    Access authority
    Name Affiliation URL Email
    Zambia Statistics Agency Ministry of Finance and national Planning https://nada.zamstats.gov.zm/ info@zamstats.gov.zm
    Confidentiality
    Is signing of a confidentiality declaration required? Confidentiality declaration text
    yes The Agency shall,where statistics are designated as official statistics, protect the confidentiality and identity of the source of data.

    Under the provision of the Statistics ACT no.13 of 2018, ZamStats is obliged to preserve the confidentiality of respondent information in all its census and survey data

    Before being granted access to the dataset, all users have to formally agree:

    1. To make no copies of any files or portions of files to which s/he is granted access except those authorized by the Agency.
    2. Not to use any technique in an attempt to learn the identity of any person, establishment, or sampling unit not identified on public use data files.
    3. To hold in strictest confidence the identification of any establishment or individual that may be inadvertently revealed in any documents or discussion, or analysis. Such inadvertent identification revealed in her/his analysis will be immediately brought to the attention of the Agency
    Access conditions

    Micro data records are anonymised as per procedures before these are made available to users. Micro data files are all free but under access policy Conditions:

    Each dataset has an access policy :Public use file- Accessible to all and - Licensed datasets, accessible under conditions. The dataset has been anonymized and is available as a Public Use Dataset. It is accessible to all for statistical and research purposes only, under the following terms and conditions:

    1. The data and other materials will not be redistributed or sold to other individuals, institutions, or organizations without the written agreement of the Zambia Statistics Agency
    2. The data will be used for statistical and scientific research purposes only. They will be used solely for reporting of aggregated information, and not for investigation of specific individuals or organizations.
    3. No attempt will be made to re-identify respondents, and no use will be made of the identity of any person or establishment discovered inadvertently.
    Citation requirements

    Zambia Statistics Agency, 2022 Micro Small and Medium Enterprise Survey, Version 1.0 of the puublic use dataset. https://nada.zamstats.gov.zm/

    Disclaimer and copyrights

    Disclaimer

    ZamStats will not bear any responsibility for the erroneous use of its data by researchers. Users should report inconsistencies in the data (both micro and aggregated) to ZamStats as soon as possible.

    The user of the data acknowledges that the original collector of the data, the authorized distributor of the data, and the relevant funding agency bear no responsibility for use of the data or for interpretations or inferences based upon such use

    Copyright
    1. Zambia Statistics Agency (ZamStats) [Zambia], Bank of Zambia (BoZ) [Zambia]. 2022 Micro Small and Medium Enterprise Survey

    Contacts

    Contacts
    Name Affiliation Email URL
    Head of Dissemination Zambia Statistics Agency info@zamstats.gov.zm https://nada.zamstats.gov.zm/

    Metadata production

    DDI Document ID

    DDI-ZMB-ZSA-MSME-2022-V1.0

    Producers
    Name Affiliation Role
    Zambia Statistics Agency Ministry of Finance and National Planning Documentation of the survey
    Date of Metadata Production

    2026-01-16

    Metadata version

    DDI Document version

    Version 1.0 (January 2026)

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