Industrial and Commercial Bank of China remains the world’s largest bank, while Agricultural Bank China overtakes China Construction Bank to become the second largest. This is according to the 2024 TAB Global 1000 rankings of the largest and strongest banks and financial holding companies worldwide based on financial statements from the 2023 financial year (FY), with a March 2024 cutoff.

The assessment covers 99 countries and territories, including representation from 38 European nations, 22 countries and territories in Asia Pacific, 11 Middle Eastern countries, nine African nations, eight South American countries, four North American nations, four Caribbean nations, and three Central American countries.

The world’s 1000 largest banks collectively held $160 trillion in total assets, $81 trillion in net loans, $101 trillion in customer deposits, and generated a total net profit of $1.3 trillion at the end of FY 2023. The ranking highlights a strong presence from Asia Pacific, with 440 banks, followed by Europe with 217, North America with 179, the Middle East with 70, South America with 46, Africa with 29, Central America with 12, and the Caribbean with seven.

Asset and profit shares

Asia Pacific banks retained the largest share of total assets at 48.8%, followed by Europe at 28.7%, and North America at 17.4%. Despite leading in aggregate net profits, Asia Pacific’s share dropped from 48.1% in last year’s evaluation to 43.5%, while North America’s share fell from 22.2% to 18.6%. In contrast, Europe’s net profit share rose from 20% to 27.1%, the Middle East from 4.9% to 5.4%, and Africa from 1.2% to 1.6%.

The decline in Asia Pacific’s profit share is primarily attributed to a modest 1.5% increase in the combined net profits of Chinese banks, totaling $329 billion in FY2023. This was largely due to rate cuts that squeezed net interest margins. Additionally, the depreciation of the renminbi (RMB) against the United States dollar (US dollar) further impacted the profit share of Chinese banks. Moreover, declines in profits for banks in Australia and South Korea also contributed to this trend.

In North America, Canadian banks reported a 31% decline in total net profit to $35 billion in FY2023, mainly due to slower loan growth and higher provisions for credit losses. Meanwhile, the combined net profit of US banks rose by only 0.2% to $187 billion. The increase in Europe’s profit share was driven by banks in Italy, the Netherlands, Russia, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom (UK). Meanwhile, the rise in the Middle East’s profit share was mainly attributed to banks in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), supported by a strong domestic economy and robust oil prices.

Dominance of Chinese and US banks

China has the largest representation in the ranking with 157 banks, followed by the US with 152, Japan with 76, Switzerland with 31, and India with 30. In terms of total assets, Chinese banks accounted for 28.7% of the combined total assets of the 1000 largest banks, while US banks made up 13.2%. Regarding net profit, Chinese banks contributed 25.9%, whereas US banks accounted for 14.8%.

Despite having only seven banks, France contributed 6.9% of total assets and 2.8% of net profit. Similarly, the UK, with 13 banks, represented 5.2% of total assets and 4% of net profit. Canada, with 11 banks, comprised 3.8% of total assets and 2.7% of net profit.

In contrast, the 76 Japanese banks collectively generated just 2.6% of net profit. Additionally, the 21 Vietnamese banks represented a mere 0.4% of total assets and contributed only 0.7% to the aggregate net profit. The 17 Indonesian banks accounted for just 0.4% of total assets and contributed 1.4% to the aggregate net profit.

Distribution of banks by asset size and profit

There are 38 banks with total assets exceeding $1 trillion, up from 37 in last year’s evaluation. This group includes 16 banks from Asia Pacific, 13 from Europe, and nine from North America. The Canadian-based Bank of Nova Scotia increased its total assets from $990 billion in 2022 to $1,016 billion in 2023.

Additionally, three banks surpassed $5 trillion in total assets, compared to two in the previous year, with Agricultural Bank of China joining this group. Furthermore, there were 175 banks with assets ranging from $100 billion to $1 trillion and 641 banks with assets between $10 billion and $100 billion.

A total of 21 banks reported net profits exceeding $10 billion, matching last year’s figure. This group comprises 10 banks from Asia Pacific, six from Europe, and five from North America. This year, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, UniCredit, Sberbank, UBS Group, and First Citizens BancShares entered this group. Conversely, Citigroup, Toronto-Dominion Bank, Goldman Sachs Group, Morgan Stanley, and Bank of Montreal experienced declines in net profits and did not make the list.

Additionally, 197 banks reported net profits between $1 billion and $10 billion, while 547 banks had assets ranging from $100 million to $1 billion. Furthermore, 20 banks reported net losses.

Balance sheet growth

In this year’s evaluation, banks reported a weighted-average asset growth rate of 6.3% for FY2023, up from 6.2% in FY2022, excluding banks from Argentina, Lebanon, Turkey, and Zimbabwe. Despite this stable asset growth, loan growth slowed from 8.2% in FY2022 to 6.3% in FY2023, while customer deposit growth decreased from 6.8% to 5.5% during the same period.

Among the regions, European banks exhibited the weakest balance sheet growth, with loan and customer deposit increases of only 1.4% and 1.8% in FY2023, respectively. In contrast, African banks demonstrated the strongest balance sheet growth, followed by those in Asia Pacific and the Middle East.

In North America, average loan growth declined significantly, decreasing from 11% in FY2022 to 5.7% in FY2023. US banks experienced a slowdown in loan growth from 9.6% to 5.2%, while Canadian banks reported a drop from 15.7% to 6.9%. Additionally, customer deposit growth in Canada slowed considerably, whereas US banks improved customer deposit growth to 1.3% in FY2023.

In Asia Pacific, average loan growth experienced a slight dip from 9.7% in FY2022 to 9.4% in FY2023. This slowdown was evident across several markets, including Australia, China, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand. However, countries such as Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, and Vietnam experienced improved loan growth. Notably, China, India, Indonesia, and Vietnam all recorded double-digit loan growth, while Hong Kong saw a decline, and growth in Singapore and Thailand fell below 1%.

In the Middle East, average loan growth declined from 11% in FY2022 to 9.1% in FY2023. In Saudi Arabia, loan growth slowed from 14.3% to 11%. Conversely, banks in Qatar and the UAE reported improvements in loan growth, with UAE banks experiencing an increase from 6.5% to 9%, driven by strong demand for personal and business loans. Nevertheless, the average loan growth for Qatari banks remained weak at 2.7%.

Top 20 largest banks in the world

The top 20 largest banks in the world comprise six Chinese banks, four US banks, three banks each from France and Japan, two UK banks, and one each from Spain and Switzerland. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China remains the world’s largest bank, with total assets increasing by 12.8% to $6,303 billion by the end of FY2023. Agricultural Bank of China surpasses China Construction Bank to become the second-largest bank in the world, growing its assets by 17.5% to $5,623 billion in 2023. In contrast, China Construction Bank’s total assets grew at a lower rate of 10.8% during the same period.

All four US banks in the top 20 largest banks in the world maintain their rankings. JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo see their total assets grow by 5.7%, 4.2%, and 2.7%, respectively, in 2023, following declines in 2022. In contrast, Citigroup experienced a slight 0.2% decrease in total assets in 2023 after a 5.5% increase the previous year. The gap between the largest banks in China and the US continues to widen, with Industrial and Commercial Bank of China’s total assets surpassing JPMorgan Chase’s by 63%, up from a 57% lead in 2022.

Japan Post Bank and Groupe BPCE drop out of the list of the top 20 largest banks in the world. In their place, Société Générale and UBS Group secure positions in the rankings. UBS Group’s total assets surged from $1,104 billion in 2022 to $1,717 billion in 2023, primarily due to its acquisition of Credit Suisse Group.

All European banks in the top 20 improve their standings, except for HSBC Holdings and Groupe BPCE. These improvements are partially driven by the appreciation of the British pound and euro against the US dollar, although all banks except UBS Group saw asset growth rates below 5%. HSBC Holdings retains its position as the seventh-largest bank globally, while Groupe BPCE slips from 20th to 21st place, primarily due to a slower asset growth rate of 2.7% in 2023 compared to 4.7% for Société Générale, which moves up from 21st to 20th. Banco Santander advances from 17th to 13th place, and BNP Paribas rises from ninth to eighth.

All four Japanese banks in the top 20 experience declines in their rankings, primarily due to the depreciation of the Japanese yen against the US dollar. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group falls from eighth in last year’s ranking to 10th place, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group drops from 13th to 15th, and Mizuho Financial Group slides from 14th to 18th. Although total asset growth for these Japanese institutions accelerated in FY2023, which ended on March 31, 2024, total assets contracted when measured in US dollars.

Asia Pacific

Chinese banks continue to rise in the rankings, with seven of the top 10 largest banks in Asia Pacific coming from China, compared to six in last year’s evaluation. This shift is driven by both the depreciation of the Japanese yen against the US dollar and the robust balance sheet growth of Chinese banks.

Bank of Communications overtakes Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group and Mizuho Financial Group to become the seventh-largest bank in the region, despite Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group and Mizuho Financial Group achieving higher asset growth rates of 9.2% and 9.6%, respectively, compared to Bank of Communications’ 8.2%. Additionally, with its total assets increasing by 8.8% in 2023 to $1,555 billion, China Merchants Bank surpasses Japan Post Bank to become the 10th largest bank in the region.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia holds its position as the 18th largest bank in Asia Pacific, but it could be overtaken by State Bank of India in the next one to two years. State Bank of India surpasses Ping An Bank to secure the 19th spot in the region, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13% in total assets between FY2019 and FY2023, outpacing Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s 6%.

Europe

The top 10 largest banks in Europe remain unchanged from the previous year, with only shifts among the institutions within this group. These banks include HSBC, BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole, Banco Santander, Barclays, Société Générale, UBS, Groupe BPCE, Deutsche Bank, and Crédit Mutuel. Additionally, ING Group, the largest bank in the Netherlands, and Intesa Sanpaolo, Italy’s largest bank, rank 12th and 13th in the region, respectively.

A total of 36 European banks are represented in the list of the world’s top 100 largest banks. The largest banks from Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK all secure positions within this global top 100.

Several countries see changes in their largest banks. For instance, BNP Paribas Fortis overtakes KBC Group to become the largest bank in Belgium, United Bulgarian Bank surpasses UniCredit Bulbank as the largest bank in Bulgaria, and TBC Bank outgrows Bank of Georgia to claim the title of Georgia’s largest bank.

North and South America

The ranking of the top 10 largest banks in North America remains consistent with last year, with US banks occupying the first five slots. The only change is Royal Bank of Canada surpassing Toronto-Dominion Bank to become the largest bank in Canada, holding sixth place in North America and 26th globally. Royal Bank of Canada increased its total assets by 5% in 2023, reaching $1,445 billion, while Toronto-Dominion Bank experiences a more modest asset growth of 2%. Meanwhile, BBVA Mexico maintains its status as Mexico’s largest bank and the 24th largest in North America, with total assets expanding by 8% to $175 billion in 2023.

In South America, the top four largest banks are all from Brazil, including Itaú Unibanco Holding, Banco do Brasil, Banco Bradesco, and Banco Santander (Brasil). Only the top three among these secure spots in the top 100 largest banks globally. Banco BCI remains the largest bank in Chile and the fifth largest in the region. Despite a 3% drop in total assets, Bancolombia, the largest bank in Colombia, overtakes Banco Santander-Chile to become the sixth largest in the region. This change is attributed to exchange rate fluctuations, as Banco Santander-Chile experiences a 4% growth in its total assets.

Middle East and Africa

In the Middle East, the top 10 largest banks consist of three from the UAE, three from Israel, two from Saudi Arabia, and one each from Egypt and Qatar. Qatar National Bank, First Abu Dhabi Bank, and Saudi National Bank continue to be the three largest banks in the region, with only the top two making it into the world’s top 100 largest banks.

The only change among the top 10 banks in the region is that Emirates NBD Bank and Al Rajhi Bank have swapped positions. Emirates NBD Bank’s total assets grow by 16% to $235 billion, moving it up to fourth place, while Al Rajhi Bank’s total assets increase by 6% to $216 billion, resulting in a drop to fifth place.

South Africa dominates the top four spots in the ranking of Africa’s largest banks, followed by three Moroccan banks. Standard Bank Group, with total assets of $168 billion as of the end of 2023, continues to lead as the largest bank in the region, ranking 148th globally. Close behind are FirstRand, Absa Group, and Nedbank Group. Access Holdings, Nigeria’s largest bank, and Ecobank Transnational, the biggest bank in Togo, take the eighth and ninth spots, respectively, in the regional ranking. 

What is TAB Global 1000?

TAB Global 1000 is an annual study of the financial and business performance of the banking industry in the world. The study comprises two different lists: the first ranks the top 1000 banks in the world by asset size, while the second ranks the same 1000 banks by strength of their balance sheets, an evaluation that is based on a belief that a strong bank demonstrates long-term profitability from its core businesses.

Which banks are included?

The assessment covers both banks and financial holding companies with significant activity in commercial and transaction banking. The evaluation does not include central banks, policy banks or finance companies.

How do we collect and treat the data?

Bank annual reports are our main sources of data. In the absence of up-to-date annual reports, we contact banks directly to source financial results for the financial year 2023, with a March 2024 cutoff. Consolidated figures are used for banking groups, except when non-banking activities form a substantial portion of the consolidated figures, in which case we look at the banking unit independent of its parent. All figures are quoted in United States dollars. Year-on-year growth rates are calculated based on original local currency figures.

For the complete list of the Largest Banks in the World 2024,
go to https://tabinsights.com/ab1000/largest-banks-in-the-world