Banks: one branch in five closed in Italy

Over 5 thousand bank branches permanently closed in 5 years, equal to more than 20% of the total, going from 25 thousand to 20 thousand, and with them a reduction in employees of almost 6%, equal to just over 16 thousand units, from 278 thousand to 262 thousand. This is the balance sheet of the so-called banking desertification process in the past five years, as emerges from a report by the Fisac ​​Cgil Studies & Research Office, a contraction which was also confirmed for 2023, with branches decreasing in 2022 by -3.9% for a loss of 825 units and employees decreased by -0.8% to 2,156 units.

He reports

At the end of 2023, the union that prepared the report based on data from the Bank of Italy explains in detail, Italian banks and the branches of foreign banks in Italy had 20,161 operational branches. From a size perspective, 54% (10,787) belonged to larger banks. Considering, however, the institutional group, the joint-stock banks owned 76% (15,294) of the branches detected as of 31 December last year. The shares attributable to cooperative credit banks and cooperative banks were equal to 20% (4,091) and 3% (653), respectively.

The North-South divide

The distribution of bank branches operating at the end of last year across the country highlights a greater presence in the Northern regions, which represent 57% of the national total (40% in Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna and Veneto). The number of branches in the Southern regions and on the Islands amounts to 22% of the national total.

The decline in branches

Last year, bank branches, underlines Fisac ​​Cgil, decreased by 825 units compared to the 20,986 recorded at the end of 2022 (-3.9%). The reduction was generalized in all regions. Considering the last five years, the number of branches in Italy has decreased by 5,248 units, almost 21% of the 25,409 units recorded at the end of 2018: in summary, in the years 2019-2023 the number of bank branches in Italy has contracted by almost 1 /5 compared to the starting data.

In this period, all Italian regions saw a decrease in the number of agencies with more pronounced contraction rates in Abruzzo, Molise, Marche and Basilicata, with contraction rates equal to or greater than 25%, and more attenuated for Trentino-Alto Adige and Sardinia.