Strongest banks in the Middle East in 2023

The TAB Global 1000 World’s Strongest Banks ranking evaluates the 1000 largest banks in the world based on their strength. In this year's ranking, the performance of 69 banks from the Middle East for the fiscal year 2022 is assessed, with data collected up to the March 2023 cutoff date. This ranking employs a detailed and transparent scorecard to assess banks using six criteria related to balance sheet performance: scale, balance sheet growth, risk profile, profitability, asset quality, and liquidity, encompassing 14 specific factors. 

Middle Eastern banks stood out in profitability and risk profile. Saudi Arabian banks secured the highest average score in the Middle East, with Israeli banks following closely. The three largest banks in Saudi Arabia ranked among the top 30 strongest banks globally. Despite  receiving relatively lower scores in scale, Saudi Arabian banks excelled in other dimensions, especially risk profile, asset quality, and profitability.  

Strongest banks in the Middle East in 2022

The Asian Banker has been publishing the world’s first authoritative annual ranking of the Strongest Banks in Asia Pacific since 2007 based on balance sheet strength. It uses a detailed and transparent scorecard to evaluate the ranking which entails six areas of balance sheet financial performance: the ability to scale, balance sheet growth, risk profile, profitability, asset quality and liquidity. The ranking has since been expanded to include banks in the Middle East, Africa, and Central Asia as well as Islamic banks globally.

In this year’s The Asian Banker Strongest Banks By Balance Sheet evaluation, Saudi National Bank has emerged as the strongest bank in the Middle East. This is based on a detailed and transparent scorecard that evaluates commercial banks and financial holding companies (banks) on six areas of balance sheet financial performance, namely the ability to scale, balance sheet growth, risk profile, profitability, asset quality and liquidity. Saudi Arabian banks continued to demonstrate stronger balance sheets than banks in other Middle Eastern countries. Out of the top ten strongest banks in the Middle East, four are from Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabian banks achieved the highest average score in profitability and their average gross non-performing loan (NPL) ratio was the second lowest in the region.

The profitability of Middle Eastern banks weakened amid the challenging operating environment, with the average return on assets (ROA) falling to 0.88% in the financial year (FY) 2020 from 1.53% in the previous year. Banks in the UAE, Jordan and Bahrain experienced a considerable decrease in ROA. The average gross non-performing loan ratio of banks in the region deteriorated modestly from 3.6% in FY2019 to 4.3% in FY2020, as the COVID-related support measures postponed the asset quality issues. Middle Eastern banks maintained strong capital positions as evidenced by an improvement in average capital adequacy ratio to 18.4% in FY2020 from 17.9% in FY2019.

Strongest banks in the Middle East in 2021

The Asian Banker has been publishing the world’s first authoritative annual ranking of the Strongest Banks in Asia Pacific since 2007 based on balance sheet strength. It uses a detailed and transparent scorecard to evaluate the ranking which entails six areas of balance sheet financial performance: the ability to scale, balance sheet growth, risk profile, profitability, asset quality and liquidity. The ranking has since been expanded to include banks in the Middle East, Africa, and Central Asia as well as Islamic banks globally.

In this year’s The Asian Banker Strongest Banks By Balance Sheet evaluation, Saudi National Bank has emerged as the strongest bank in the Middle East. This is based on a detailed and transparent scorecard that evaluates commercial banks and financial holding companies (banks) on six areas of balance sheet financial performance, namely the ability to scale, balance sheet growth, risk profile, profitability, asset quality and liquidity. Saudi Arabian banks continued to demonstrate stronger balance sheets than banks in other Middle Eastern countries. Out of the top ten strongest banks in the Middle East, four are from Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabian banks achieved the highest average score in profitability and their average gross non-performing loan (NPL) ratio was the second lowest in the region.

The operating environment for banks improved, thus the banking sector delivered better performance. All the Middle Eastern countries posted higher average return on assets. Meanwhile, the average gross NPL ratio of banks eased from 4.3% in the financial year (FY) 2020 to 4% in FY2021. However, their average capital adequacy ratio (CAR) was down slightly from 18.4% to 18.2%. The average CAR of Saudi Arabian banks dropped from 20.4% to 19.8%, which remained the highest in the region. The UAE banks also experienced a contraction in CAR from 17.5% to 16.6%, the second lowest in the region.

Strongest banks in the Middle East in 2020

The Asian Banker has been publishing the world’s first authoritative annual ranking of the Strongest Banks in Asia Pacific since 2007 based on balance sheet strength. It uses a detailed and transparent scorecard to evaluate the ranking which entails six areas of balance sheet financial performance: the ability to scale, balance sheet growth, risk profile, profitability, asset quality and liquidity. The ranking has since been expanded to include banks in the Middle East, Africa, and Central Asia as well as Islamic banks globally.

In this year’s The Asian Banker Strongest Banks By Balance Sheet evaluation, National Commercial Bank emerged as the strongest bank in the Middle East. This is based on a detailed and transparent scorecard that evaluates commercial banks and financial holding companies (banks) on six areas of balance sheet financial performance, namely the ability to scale, balance sheet growth, risk profile, profitability, asset quality and liquidity. This year, financial information in the first half of the financial year 2020 (1H FY2020) was collated and incorporated into the assessment of how banks performed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The average strength score recorded by banks in the Middle East fell from 3.62 in the previous year’s evaluation to 3.48 in 2020, a reflection of weaker overall financial performance. Apart from the impact of the pandemic, low oil prices also posed serious challenges to the banking system. Banks in the region registered an average return on assets of 0.92% in 1H FY2020, much lower than 1.69% in 1H FY2019. Asset quality deteriorated and the average capital adequacy ratio also declined during the year.