Banks: Another 800 branches closed, and there is a risk of going out of service in southern Italy

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The digitalization of banking continues to impact credit networks and shortages are affecting southern Italy. The decline in bank branches in Italy continues, as their number decreased by more than 800 branches at the end of last year. As can be seen in the tables of the Bank of Italy, 2023 saw a further decrease from 20,985 at the end of 2022 to 20,161 at the end of 2023. This decrease, via the Nationale, confirms that it affected all regions and was most pronounced in percentage terms in the Marche in Abruzzo and Sicily.

This phenomenon weighs heavily on the south

As stated in the Central Institute publication “Banks and Institutions”, Italian banks and branches of foreign banks in Italy at the end of 2023 had 20,161 operational branches, 54 percent of which belonged to the larger banks. Spa banks had more than 15,000 operating branches, 76% of the national total. The share attributable to cooperative credit banks and co-operative banks was 20 and 3 per cent, respectively. Bank branches are more present in the northern regions. Here they 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 percent of the national total.

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