The Middle East and Africa's 30 largest banks by assets, 2025

Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank PJSC (ADCB) advanced two notches in S&P Global Market Intelligence's rankings of the 30 largest banks by assets in the Middle East and Africa.

The banks making up the top of the list were largely unchanged, with Qatar National Bank QPSC and First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC remaining the largest and second-largest banks in the region. Saudi National Bank, Emirates NBD Bank PJSC and Al Rajhi Banking & Investment Corp. completed the top five.

ADCB is now ranked eighth in the list with assets equivalent to about $177.73 billion at the end of 2024. It expanded into Saudi Arabia after securing a banking license there. It also rebranded its Al Hilal Islamic Bank unit into ADCB Islamic Bank JSC in Kazakhstan and made it its corporate banking hub in central Asia.

Seven out of the 30 sampled banks fell in the rankings, while eight rose. Arab Bank Group fell the most, by four notches to 26th place.

For the latest ranking, company assets were adjusted on a best-efforts basis for pending mergers, acquisitions and divestitures, as well as M&A deals that closed after the end of the period. To be eligible for inclusion in pro forma adjustments, the amount of assets being transferred had to be at least $1 billion, unless otherwise noted. Assets reported by non-US-dollar filers were converted to dollars using period-end exchange rates. Total assets were taken on an "as-reported" basis, and no adjustments were made to account for differing accounting standards. The majority of banks were ranked by total assets as of Dec. 31, 2024. In the previous ranking, published April 15, 2024, most company assets were as of Dec. 31, 2023.

To view an Excel spreadsheet containing the top 30 Middle East and Africa banks, click here.

South Africa-based Standard Bank Group Ltd. and National Bank of Egypt SAE fell one place each to the ninth and tenth spots, respectively. The figure for National Bank of Egypt is as of Sept. 30, 2024.

Alinma Bank's assets increased nearly 17% to $73.74 billion, allowing it to rise by three notches to 23rd place. UAE-based Mashreqbank PSC's assets also increased to $72.82 billion, making it the 24th largest bank in the region.

Qatar National Bank QPSC remained atop the rankings with assets of roughly $356.52 billion. The bank recorded a 7% growth in loans and advances to $250 billion in 2024 while customer deposits also grew 3% to $244 billion.

The public sector is expected to remain one of Qatar National Bank's largest contributors to loan growth as the government's railway infrastructure project is still underway, CFO Ramzi Talat Mari said in a Jan. 15 earnings call.

First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC also remained the second largest bank in the region with total assets amounting to $330.32 billion at the end of 2024. The top United Arab Emirates bank is undergoing a restructuring, under which it will operate four main business divisions: investment banking and markets; wholesale banking; international banking; and personal, wealth and business banking.

UAE banks led the sample in terms of combined total assets with $1.065 trillion, while Saudi Arabian banks had $997.86 billion. Seven banks from each country were present in the list.

Israel had five banks with combined assets of $735.02 billion, followed by four South African banks with $492.52 billion.