Due to ongoing digitization and cost pressure, more and more bank branches are being closed in Germany.
The number of domestic branches fell significantly by almost 10 percent to 21,712 last year, as the Deutsche Bundesbank announced on Monday in Frankfurt.
A total of 2,388 branches were closed in that year, after 2,567 in 2020. According to the central bank, this reflects increased use of online banking as well as cost-cutting measures.
The number of independent credit institutions fell significantly by 160 to 1519 institutions.
However, the Securities Institutes Act, which came into force in mid-2021, also played a role.
Accordingly, 59 former securities trading banks and branches of foreign securities trading companies are no longer credit institutions within the meaning of the German Banking Act.
Without this effect, however, the decline was still 6.0 percent compared to a minus of only 2.2 percent in 2020. A total of 54 mergers (previous year 34) contributed to this, especially in the cooperative sector.
There were also 43 departures, mainly branches of British securities trading banks due to Brexit.
"In view of the clouds gathering in the banking sky due to the turnaround in interest rates, weakening growth and inflation, the banks are well advised to further increase their resilience through cost awareness and, if necessary, mergers," warned Joachim Wuermeling, member of the Executive Board of the Deutsche Bundesbank responsible for banking supervision.
In his view, the significant decline in the number of institutions and branches is a sign of the ongoing dynamics of consolidation and restructuring in the German banking system.
Abroad, the German banks reduced the number of their subsidiaries from 83 to 79.