Total banking assets in CEE16* exceeded EUR 1.84 trillion as of December 2022 after growing by over 8% YoY.
The year 2022 marked a robust performance for banks operating in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE16*), as the region experienced a remarkable asset growth of over 8% YoY, reaching a combined €1.84 trillion by December 2022, for 16 countries in the region. The expansion in the CEE financial sector was evident in nearly all countries within the region, with some markets like Croatia, Bulgaria, Romania, Albania, and Montenegro achieving double-digit growth rates. This recent surge in financial markets across CEE is a testament to the thriving economies, supported by healthy GDP growth and increasing individual incomes.
Remembering the challenging year of 2020, when bank profits experienced a significant hit and key profitability benchmarks were more than halved, regional bankers have shown optimism with a gradual improvement in profitability since 2021. By 2022, the average Return on Assets (ROA) for the top 200 CEE banks reached 0.92%, while the average Return on Equity (ROE) was 9.9%. Although these figures are still below the levels recorded in the years 2016-2019, there is an expectation that regional banks will manage to return to their historical performance. For more info about developments in banking sectors in CEE please review the full publication.
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*CEE16 include: Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovak Republic, Romania, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Montenegro and North Macedonia.
List of Top 200 banks in Central and Eastern Europe /2023 edition/