The Polish banking sector is small on the background of the European Union. Only in the second ten

Against the background of EU countries, the Polish banking sector is small; The assets of national banks in the third quarter of 2024 in relation to GDP amounted to 53 percent. – It's 19. The weakest result in the Union – said the Polish Economic Institute. The median in the EU is 111 percent.

The Institute's analysts, citing the data of the National Bank of Poland, pointed out that all banks operating in Poland had assets worth PLN 3317 billion at the end of 2024, i.e. approx. 92 percent. Polish GDP; They generated PLN 42 billion of net profit. “From these assets, about 59 percent are controlled by domestic capital (…), and others by entities dependent on foreign banking groups” – they noted. This means that the share of domestic entities on the domestic market is “relatively small” because the EU average is 72 percent.

“The Polish banking sector is small compared to the European Union. The assets of national banks in the third quarter of 2024 amounted to EUR 452 billion (approx. PLN 1,930 billion at the then exchange rate 2), i.e. only 53 percent of GDP. In relation to GDP, it was 19. The weakest result in the European Union, with a median of 111 %. – emphasized Pie. This means that Polish banks are “small also in terms of nominal amounts”. “While Poland has 6. The highest GDP among EU countries, the sector assets are only in 11th place,” he pointed out.

According to the Institute, the small size of the national banking sector means that banks have limited potential to finance the largest development projects due to the amounts required by investments – regardless of the rate of return on the project. However, the rate of return of Polish banks is relatively high.

The Institute's experts pointed out that in the first three quarters, domestic banks generated 4.7 billion euros of profits, which “implies the rate of return on RoA assets of 1.05 percent”. This result – as they pointed out – is slightly above the EU median, which is 0.93 percent. “In turn, the rate of return on Equita Roe capital was 12.2 percent, i.e. by 2.2 percentage above the median in the EU” – they added.

They explained that higher ROE is a derivative of increased profitability, including Due to the NBP interest rates, but “it is also an indirect effect of the weaker development of the capital market in Poland, in which a significant part of household savings goes to banks instead of e.g. the stock exchange.” “In addition, the results of individual banks are limited to a limited extent due to another asset portfolio structure (mortgage, corporate loans or bonds) or various financial risk protection strategies (banks to varying degrees + insure themselves + against changing interest rates by NBP)” – experts indicated.

Pie is based on the data of the European Central Bank for the third quarter of last year.

The Polish Economic Institute is a public Think Tank economic; He prepares reports, analyzes and recommendations regarding key areas of the economy and social life in Poland. (PAP)

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