Giant EU banks grow asset share over four years

Share of assets held by five largest banks in the median EU member state hits 65%

The European Union banking sector has become more concentrated over the last four years. The share of assets held by the five largest banks in the median EU country touched 65% in 2018, up from 60% in 2014.

But this data point masks a wide dispersion of concentration levels across member states.

Greece’s banking sector is the most concentrated, with 97% of total banking assets held by the five largest lenders. Estonia’s and Lithuania’s follow with top five bank asset shares of 91% each.

On