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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Banking concentration in Spain at the provincial level

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The Spanish banking sector stands apart in the European context for the intensity of its consolidation since the start of the crisis in terms of both the reduction in the number of competitors (having declined by 43%, compared to 28% in the Eurozone) and the increase in market concentration (measured using the Herfindahl index, concentration has increased by 88%, compared to just 5.1% in the Eurozone). Despite the sharp increase in sector concentration, albeit from a starting point below the European average, the nationwide reading is well below levels of concern from an antitrust standpoint. Even in the wake of the two bank mergers of 2017, the Herfindahl index stands well below the threshold used by the ECB to define a market as highly concentrated. At the subnational level, however, over half of Spain's provinces present highly concentrated markets. Despite the intensity of restructuring and consolidation, sector returns remain slim relative to investor demands, which calls for further improvement in cost-income ratios. Recognizing that there is occasionally a trade-off between financial stability and competition, and that the latter may suffer in the interest of the former, there is scope for additional consolidation, including crossborder transactions, as welcomed by the ECB.