Germany

Germany's banking market is fragmented and organised in three pillars. At end-2025 the Bundesbank counted 1,329 credit institutions: 232 private commercial banks (three big banks, 129 regional and other commercial banks and 100 branches of foreign banks), 344 savings banks and six Landesbanken in the public-sector group, and 647 cooperative institutions. The five largest credit institutions held only 35.4% of sector assets in 2025, according to ECB structural indicators, against 51.2% in Italy, 67.4% in Spain and 81.3% in the Netherlands. Public development banks, led by KfW with €540.7bn of assets, add a significant state-owned lending layer.