Bank concentration, digitization and the search for efficiency have resulted in not only a reduction in the number of branches in recent years, but also a shift in their territorial distribution. After a decade, the results can already be seen clearly: the Canary Islands continues to be the autonomous community with the fewest branches per inhabitant, but Catalonia and Madrid have climbed several places in the particular ranking to occupy second and third position.
According to data from the INE and the Bank of Spain, in 2013 there were 46.8 million inhabitants in Spain and 37,465 bank branches, that is, one for every 1,249 inhabitants. That year the digitization of banking had not yet started with force, but the banking map had begun to be simplified after the crisis of the savings banks, in which it would go from more than sixty entities to barely a dozen.
At the end of 2022, there are some 47.6 million inhabitants in Spain and 17,735 branches: one for every 2,683 people. Branches are no longer necessary for many users, the use of cash has fallen with the covid and the bank workforce in Spain has gone from 215,000 workers in 2013, according to the ECB, to around 126,000 in 2022, according to the figures from the banks themselves. The distribution of offices has also changed.
Canarias and La Rioja continue at the extremes of the classification. In ten years, the first has gone from having one branch for every 1,702 inhabitants to one for every 3,638, which makes it the autonomous community with the worst coverage in both cases. La Rioja has continued to be the best, despite going from a branch for 755 people to one for 1,492.
In the ranking, what happened with Catalonia and Madrid stands out, with more population density and facilities for digitization. In Catalonia, it has gone from tenth position in number of offices per inhabitant in 2013, with 1,226, to second, with 3,482, only behind the Canary Islands. Madrid, with 1,331 inhabitants per branch ten years ago, has gone from fifth to third place, with 3,369. In the Mediterranean, the Valencian Community and the Balearic Islands have also climbed several positions.
There are other autonomous communities that, on the other hand, now come out better off in relative terms. Andalusia has gone from second to eighth place and Galicia from third to ninth. The Basque Country, Asturias, Castilla-La Mancha, Navarra or Extremadura, despite losing offices, are now better off when compared to other regions.
At the end of last year, the entity that had by far the most branches in Spain was CaixaBank, with 4,081, despite having cut its number as a result of the integration with Bankia. They are followed at a great distance by Santander, with 1,913, and BBVA, with 1,886.
Sabadell has 1,228 branches and Bankinter, with 597, according to the entities themselves. Of the old savings banks, Unicaja is, behind CaixaBank, the one with the most branches, with 969. In its case, the cut last year was the highest in the banking sector, 29%, due to the integration with Liberbank.
The resistance to the closure of branches has given results in rural areas and in the treatment of the elderly, the two areas in which the Government has closed agreements with the banks. A few days ago, both the Minister Nadia Calviño and the bank representatives expressed their satisfaction with the progress made in financial inclusion.
