The changing landscape of bank offices in the euro area
By Daniel Legran, Olli Tuomikoski and Johanna Spitz
As part of its role to help preserve financial stability, the ECB is tasked with keeping an eye on developments in the banking sector to identify vulnerabilities and foster resilience. This includes gathering and monitoring statistics on the number of bank offices, employees, branches and subsidiaries. Bank offices are understood to include all the physical locations a bank may have in a country. The locations of non-credit institutions are not counted as bank offices in the statistics, even if they are part of a banking group.
Since 2008, the data show a general decline in the number of bank offices in the euro area. From a peak of around 186,000 in 2008, only approximately 109,000 offices remained in 2022. This corresponds to 58 bank offices per 100,000 inhabitants in the euro area in 2008 and around 32 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2022 (Chart 1). There are, however, differences across countries. Latvia witnessed the most substantial reduction in the number of bank offices, with almost 9 out of 10 bank offices closing. By contrast, Ireland was the only country in which the number of bank offices stayed roughly stable.
This trend is in line with a general decline in euro area bank staff, which fell from around 2.24 million employees or 697 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2008 to around 1.75 million employees or 509 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2022 (Chart 2). Again, Latvia saw the largest reduction in the number of bank staff with a drop of 56%. The downward trend in the numbers of offices and employees is not exclusive to banks in the euro area and can also be observed in the United States[1].
Rapid technological innovation and new trends have changed how banks operate and meet customer demand. One potential reason for the decline in bank offices is the rise of online and mobile banking, with many customers now conducting banking activities and transactions remotely, which reduces the demand for physical office space.
Data for the reference period 2023 and accompanying press release is scheduled for publication on 7 June 2024.
[1] See International Monetary Fund, (2023), Financial Access Survey.
Further information
Press release: "EU structural financial indicators: end of 2022"
Structural financial indicators
Related statistics
Number of employees at credit institutions
The views expressed in each article are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the European Central Bank and the Eurosystem.