How banked is Spain in the European context?

Spanish banking services generate 2.7% of the Spanish economy’s gross value added and 1.1% of its jobs. Those percentages are below the eurozone averages of 3% and 1.4%, respectively. In the wake of the crisis, the banking sector’s contribution to the economy has fallen in both Spain and the eurozone, albeit more intensely in Spain. Despite growth in financial disintermediation, the banks remain at the core of the Spanish financial system, accounting for 70% of its GVA and 61% of the employment generated. It is worth highlighting the growing importance of auxiliary activities to financial services, which contributed 12% of the income and 24% of the employment generated by the Spanish financial system in 2017. This can be explained by the growth in fund management, which in the context of low interest rates, has made bank deposits less attractive. Although the Spanish economy continues to rely on bank credit relatively more than the rest of Europe, the intense private sector deleveraging observed has drastically narrowed this difference–measured in terms of credit/GDP, this statistic stands at 101% in Spain versus 98% in the eurozone.