German Bundesbank reports 39 fewer credit institutions in 2025 as domestic branches fall to 16799

The German Bundesbank has published its latest data on the structure of the German banking sector, showing that consolidation continued at a moderate pace in 2025. The total number of credit institutions fell by a net 39 to 1,329, reflecting 45 exits and six new entrants, with mergers accounting for 34 of the reductions. Domestic branches also continued to shrink, falling by 1,071 or 6% to 16,799 as digitalisation, cost pressure and changing customer behaviour reduced physical networks across most banking segments. The fall in institutions was driven mainly by the cooperative sector, where 27 merger-related exits reduced the number of institutions to 647, and by the savings bank sector, where mergers cut the number of institutions by five to 344, alongside six unchanged Landesbanken. Credit banks fell by six to 232, although the number of large banks remained unchanged at three. Branch reductions were most pronounced among large banks, whose domestic network fell by 755 to 1,429, almost entirely because Deutsche Bank reduced its network by 709 branches. Savings banks reduced branches by 116 to 6,810 and cooperative institutions by 161 to 6,241. Outside Germany, the number of foreign subsidiaries of German banks was unchanged at 73, while foreign branches increased by six to 277.