The Euro region experienced a positive growth of 2.4% in 2017. However, the following two metrics indicate the banking industry did not perform well compared to 2015 and 2016. First, the overall asset size for all the European banks in 2017 is about US$ 51.67 Tn which is -1.2% since 2015 (US$ 52.29.1 Tn). Second, the total assets held by the top 10 European banks contracted by an average of -1.6% between 2015 and 2017.

From an overall bank profitability perspective, in 2017, the ROE for European banks was of the order of 5.6%. In the most significant EU economies such as the Netherlands, Italy, France, Germany, and Spain the average ROE in 2017 reached 8.8%. However, it has reduced by 50% over a decade, after reaching a peak of ~25% in 2013.