The Asian Banker Thursday, 13 February 2025

The Largest Banks Rankings

Largest Banks Asia Pacific
Largest Banks MEA Largest Islamic Banks
2021
2020 2019 2018

Largest banks in Asia Pacific in 2021

The Asian Banker 500 (AB500) 2021 is an evaluation of the 500 largest commercial banks and financial holding companies (banks) in the region for the financial year 2020, with a March 2021 cutoff. This year’s evaluation covers 22 countries, territories and special administrative regions. The 500 largest banks combined had $71.8 trillion in total assets, $37.4 trillion in net loans, $49.7 trillion in customer deposits and $425 billion in net profit.

The top ten ranking for this year remained largely unchanged, with China's big four banks retaining the top four spots. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China remained the largest bank, with its total assets up by 10.7% to $5.1 trillion in 2020. Mizuho Financial Group and Japan Post Bank switched places, with Mizuho climbing one place to seventh. There are 27 banks in the region with total assets greater than $500 billion, which comprise 14 Chinese banks, five Japanese banks, four Australian banks, two South Korean banks and one each from Hong Kong and India.

The largest banks in Japan, Hong Kong, Australia, India, South Korea and Singapore held the fifth, 13th, 18th, 22nd, 25th and 28th places in the ranking respectively. In addition, the largest bank in Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Taiwan and Thailand also ranked among the top 100 largest banks in the region. In contrast, the largest bank in Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, Kazakhstan, Myanmar, Pakistan and Sri Lanka ranked outside the top 300 largest banks.

Despite its total assets growing by 8.7%, Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) slipped from the 11th place last year to 13th place this year, as it was surpassed by two Chinese banks, China Merchants Bank and Shanghai Pudong Development Bank. In addition to the stronger asset growth of Chinese banks, this is also attributable to the appreciation of the renminbi against the US dollar. We project that the ranking of HSBC will fall further in the future, as Industrial Bank, China CITIC Bank and China Minsheng Banking Corporation each have more than $1 trillion in total assets. Total assets of Industrial Bank, which ranked 14th, was only 0.4% less than that of HSBC at the end of 2020.

In 2020, the 500 largest banks grew aggregate net loans and customer deposits by 13.4% and 14.4% respectively. Banks in Bangladesh, China, India, Kazakhstan, South Korea, Sri Lanka and Vietnam registered a double-digit loan growth. On the contrary, Indonesia and the Philippines witnessed a contraction in aggregate bank loans. The loan demand weakened amid the pandemic, and banks were more cautious in extending credit despite sufficient liquidity.

The aggregate net profit generated by the 500 banks fell by 5% in 2020. Seventeen out of the 22 markets witnessed a decline in aggregate net profit of banks, mainly triggered by the massive loan loss provisions banks set aside and the cuts in interest rates. Malaysia and Indonesia saw aggregate net profit of banks drop the most, at 42.7% and 35.1% respectively. In addition, aggregate net profit of banks in Australia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand also slumped by around 30%.

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Notes: (1) In the change in income and profit columns, P->L: profit to loss; L->P: loss to profit; L->L: loss to loss. (2) n.a.: not available; n.m.; not meaningful. (3) * & # FY2019 data.
Source: TABInsights, S&P Global Market Intelligence