Largest domestic banks in Benelux 2023, by assets

In 2023, the value of assets held by the Dutch ING reached a total of approximately 975.6 billion euros, making it the leading bank in the Benelux region in terms of total assets. In comparison, BNP Paribas Fortis, the leading Belgian bank, had assets amounting to approximately 373.9 billion euros. The assets of banks with Luxembourgian origins were lower than those from Belgium and the Netherlands. This is partly because the Grand Duchy has many large foreign banks within the country.

The banking industry in Belgium

The banking sector in Belgium has two important characteristics. First, banking is deemed an important part of Belgian culture, with a relatively high number of bank offices in the country. In 2022, for example, the total number of offices of banks established in Belgium was close to 2,500 in the Flanders region. Second, the Belgian banking landscape is dominated by several big non-Belgian banking concerns, notably Dutch bank ING and France-based BNP Paribas. In 2023, BNP Paribas Fortis, BNP Paribas' Belgian daughter, reached a phased-in Common Equity Tier 1 (CET 1) ratio of more than 16 percent.

The banking industry in the Netherlands

In the Netherlands, a few large institutions dominate the domestic financial markets. In 2022, for example, the five largest Dutch credit institutions, which include ING, Rabobank and ABN Amro, held approximately 83 percent of the total assets. This was the highest in the Benelux region, though Belgium followed, with 72 percent of all banking assets held at the five largest credit institutions.