Financial inclusion and women’s empowerment as parallel drivers of economic growth in South Asia

In the context of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 5 (Gender Equality) and SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), there is an urgent need to address persistent barriers to inclusive prosperity in South Asia. Gender disparities in financial access and labor participation continue to hinder equitable economic advancement. This study investigates the parallel associations of financial inclusion, financial development, and women’s empowerment with economic growth across six South Asian economies from 2000 to 2024, using the Driscoll–Kraay estimator. The findings indicate that greater financial inclusion, female labor force participation, secondary education attainment, and credit depth are positively and significantly associated with GDP per capita. The negative coefficient on the female labor share, however, is consistent with structural inefficiencies and persistent gender-based productivity gaps. Robustness checks using several estimators affirm these associations, while the Dumitrescu–Hurlin test points to bidirectional predictive relationships between economic growth and financial access, together with closely related predictive links involving women’s empowerment. Overall, the study offers additional empirical evidence for the South Asian context and points to the value of coordinated policies that treat financial inclusion and women’s empowerment as complementary supports for more equitable and sustainable growth.