North American banks witnessed a surge in profit growth in 2018, boosting their share of global profitability in The Banker’s Top 1000 World Banks ranking for 2019. US lenders were the engine of growth for both the region and the global banking sector as a whole during the review period, with both western and eastern European institutions also experiencing healthy increases in profitability.
Net income for banks across all regions rose to $901bn in 2018, an 11.7% rise on 2017 figures. US profits rose 57.9% during the year, prompting a 27% increase in profitability for North America as a whole. As a result, the region’s share of global profitability have risen to 27% in the 2019 ranking, from 20.5% in the 2018 ranking.
