Number of German Bank Branches Falls Below 20.000
German Bank Branches Down 6.5% YoY
The ECB released annual bank branch numbers 2021 for the Eurozone and its countries last week. Bank branch statistics from central banks are fairly noisy, so we rework German branch numbers using a comprehensive bottom-up approach. For further information please see our German post Wie viele Bankfilialen gibt es wirklich?, in which we explain at length, why we adjust German branch numbers from ECB/Bundesbank down by c10%.
Below we present our analysis for Germany 2021, which might still be subject to marginal revisions in the future.
Main Takeaway
– German bank branches are down c1.400 or 6.5% YoY to 19.9k, falling below 20k for the first time in history
– Our numbers are in sharp contrast to ECB/Bundesbank data, which have German branches only down by a marginal 0.5% YoY
– The difference between our number and ECB/Bundesbank hits a record high of 6%p (difference between blue and orange line in below chart)
– We have not been able to verify, why ECB/Bundesbank data is so much different to our, but have no reason to question our results