Commercial bank assets in GCC reach $3.527 trillion

The latest statistics released by the Statistical Centre for the Cooperation Council for the Arab Countries of the Gulf (GCC-Stat) showed that the total assets of commercial banks operating in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries increased by 10 per cent by the end of 2024 reaching around $3.5 trillion, compared to the assets recorded at the end of 2023.

Statistics indicated that the total deposits at commercial banks operating in the GCC reached around $2.1 trillion by the end of 2024, marking an increase of 9.6 percent compared to their value recorded at the end of 2023. They also revealed that deposits at commercial banks operating across all GCC countries increased by the end of 2024 compared to the deposits recorded in 2023.

Likewise, the total balance of loans provided by commercial banks operating in the GCC countries reached approximately $2.1 trillion by the end of 2024, reflecting an increase of 9.9 per cent compared to 2023.

Loans granted to the private sector accounted for about 80.7 per cent of total loans across the GCC Countries. The ratio of non-performing loans to total loans declined in most GCC countries during the period 2020-2024, although it varied from one country to another.

Similarly, the loan-to-deposit ratio varied significantly across GCC countries, ranging between 125 per cent and 66 per cent.

Meanwhile, capital adequacy ratios in GCC countries continued to remain well above the Basel III regulatory minimum, ranging between 32 per cent and 17.8 per cent in 2024.

WAM