Figures published by the European Central Bank have shown another drop in the number of domestic banks in the EU in 2013, but a far smaller one than the previous year.

In 2011, there were 4,244 banks, which dropped by 634 to 3,610 in 2012. The drop between 2012 and 2013 was of just 49, with no changes to the number of large domestic banks, a slight increase in medium-sized ones, and the drop only in the small domestic banks.

There were also 1,027 foreign-controlled subsidiaries and branches in 2013, down from 1,032 the previous year.

The ECB report also shows a considerable decline in assets, from €43.6 billion in 2012 to €39.5 billion in 2013.

The Consolidated Banking Data provides statistics about the EU banking system on a consolidated basis.

It refers to 395 banking groups together with 4,193 stand-alone credit institutions, including data for 695 foreign-controlled branches and subsidiaries operating in the EU.