South Africa's lenders still dominate Africa's banking landscape, but their sluggish 2012 means that the rest are making up ground.

On first glance, the Asia-Pacific top 25 excluding China and Japan has a familiar look to it, with Australian banks dominating. However, closer examination shows growth stories from across the whole region.

Home to the largest bank in the world by Tier 1 capital – Industrial and Commercial Bank of China – and three other members of the top 10, China's dominance at the top of the global banking scene is now there for all to see.

The sluggish growth that has existed in Japan's banking sector in recent years shows little sign of ending.

Soundness levels among the world's banks are showing a slight sign of improvement, though familiar names still feature at the top of the rankings.

Organic growth from developing markets in Latin America and Asia and mergers of conversions in the developed world provide the stories behind the majority of new entrants in the 2013 Top 1000 World Banks ranking.

Banks from the emerging markets in Latin America and the Asia-Pacific region dominate this year’s most profitable banks, leaving European banks with only two countries in the top 25 ranking. 

The Asia-Pacific region retains its global dominance, with the most banks in the Top 1000 and the biggest share of Tier 1 capital.

Emerging markets are coming up trumps in terms of bank cost-to-income ratios, with Africa the top ranking region and Qatar the top ranking country.  

Although Brazil's largest four banks remain well clear of the pack in Latin America, there were promising developments in Colombia, Mexico and Venezuela in 2012.