Primary data collected from 173 urban households · Bhutan Data Scientist Pvt. Ltd.
This project focused on financial resilience at the household level in urban Bhutan, exploring income, expenditure, housing costs, saving behavior, and financial challenges. Using a cross-sectional descriptive approach, primary data was collected via a Google survey, cleaned in Google Sheets, and visualized in Tableau.
Key findings show that many urban households earn low incomes and spend a large share on rent and loan repayments, severely limiting savings capacity. High living costs and low income were found as the main barriers to saving, while poor budgeting and financial planning skills add to this vulnerability.
The project concludes that financial resilience in urban Bhutan depends on both structural factors (income, housing costs) and behavioral factors (saving habits, financial planning). Recommendations include improving affordable housing, promoting financial literacy, and providing practical digital tools.
Bhutan is experiencing steady urbanization as people migrate from rural areas in search of better employment, education, and services. While opportunities have increased, the cost of urban living has risen significantly creating a dual challenge for households who face high rental costs, rising goods and services prices, limited income growth, and increased financial obligations.
Financial resilience the ability to manage expenses, absorb financial shocks, and maintain stability is becoming increasingly critical. Limited existing research on how Bhutanese households manage finances makes this project important for providing data-driven insights.
This project follows an exploratory and descriptive design to understand trends and patterns related to financial resilience in urban Bhutan. It is non-experimental and cross-sectional, with data collected at a single point in time without manipulating any variables.
Primary survey data was collected from 173 urban households using Google Forms. Data was cleaned and prepared in Google Sheets inconsistencies checked, missing values handled, and categorical data converted to numerical where necessary. Cleaned data was then analyzed in Tableau to create interactive charts and visualizations.
78.03% of respondents are aged 21–35 young adults in early career stages with the highest financial vulnerability due to lower income and higher living costs.
More than half earn Nu. 30,000 or less per month. The largest group earns below Nu. 20,000, leaving very limited capacity for savings a clear "missing middle" income gap.
Rent alone is 37.76% of total household expenses. Combined with loan repayments, over 55% of income goes to fixed, non-negotiable costs leaving almost nothing to save.
High expenses (36.11%) and low income (25%) account for 61.11% of reasons. A further 23.61% have no regular saving habit, and 11.11% cited unexpected expenses.
Inability to save is the top financial difficulty (37.54%), followed by financial planning (28.67%) and daily budgeting (20.48%) three deeply interconnected challenges.
61.44% of households want either savings/investment products or mobile digital budgeting tools showing strong demand for practical, accessible financial tools over advice alone.
Financial resilience in urban Bhutan depends on two interconnected systems. When both break down simultaneously, households face a cycle of financial vulnerability that is very hard to escape.
When these structural and behavioral factors combine, households face a lack of financial buffer, increased stress managing daily needs, and high vulnerability to emergencies medical expenses, job loss, or sudden economic shocks.
The government and private sector should increase supply of affordable housing in urban areas to reduce the rent burden that consumes over a third of household income.
Run programs educating households on budgeting, saving, debt management, and financial planning to build practical money management skills.
Banks and institutions should introduce mobile budgeting apps that help households track income, expenses, and savings directly addressing the top demand identified in the project.
Promote savings accounts designed for emergency funds with flexible deposit options to help households build a financial cushion for unexpected expenses.
Expand microfinance, low-interest loans, and investment products to give households more options for managing shocks and building long-term stability.
Policymakers should focus on controlling rising urban costs, especially housing and utilities, and develop policies that directly support urban household financial stability.
The findings of this project highlight that financial resilience in urban Bhutan is shaped by both structural factors income levels, housing costs, and rising expenses and behavioral factors such as saving habits, budgeting, and financial planning.
Visualization results confirm that many urban households earn low incomes and spend the majority on rent and loan repayments, leaving little capacity to save or absorb financial shocks. The absence of adequate savings creates a critical vulnerability any unexpected expense becomes a crisis.
Addressing financial resilience requires a combined approach: improving access to affordable housing and financial services, promoting financial literacy, and providing practical digital tools that help households plan, save, and build long-term stability. The SBB platform including its budget planner, quiz, and financial tools is a direct response to these findings.