In response to false and misleading reports in the media about the current state of the banking system in Ukraine, including reports about the number of banks per 100,000 adults, the National Bank of Ukraine informs that as of 1 June 2016 there were 34 (33.94) operating bank branches per 100,000 adults, according to the NBU’s data.
Data on the number of bank branches are posted in the “Banking System's Performance Indicators” subsection of the “Statistics” section of the NBU’s website.
Official data are strikingly different from the data released by the World Bank cited by some authors. In particular, information that the number of banks per 100,000 adults stands at 0.56 0.56 has no substance.
The number of operating bank branches per 100,000 adults (aged above 18 years) is shown in the chart below.
The number of commercial bank branches per 100,000 adults in EU countries stands at 28, in Spain - 68, France - 38, Poland and Slovenia - 31, Romania- 29, Slovakia - 28, Latvia -18 and Germany - 14.
The World Bank measures this indicator depending on each country's income level. For low-income countries, this indicator, on average, stands at 3, for middle-income countries – 12, for high-income countries – 21.
The indicator of access to and use of financial services in Ukraine, particularly the number of bank branches per 100,000 adults is in line with that in EU countries.
We would like to point out that since 2014 Ukrainian banks have lost about 2,400 bank branches in Crimea and Donbass region due to Russia's annexation of Crimea and occupation of the parts of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts.
We would like to urge media, analysts and other users of information on the state of Ukraine’s banking system/