Italy closes 126 bank branches in H1 2026, 11.5 million left without local service
In the first six months of 2026 Italian banks shut 126 more branches, bringing the national total to 19,016. The closure wave follows a decade‑long decline that has cut the number of bank offices from 30,258 in 2015 to about 19,140 in 2025 – a 36.7 % reduction and the loss of more than 11,000 branches.
Almost 11.5 million Italians now live in municipalities that have no bank branch or only a single outlet. The number of completely unserved communes rose by nine in the first half of 2026. Large cities are also affected, with branch counts falling 16.2 % in Milan, 14.1 % in Rome and 13.9 % in Palermo compared with the end of 2021.
Regions with the highest share of bank‑less municipalities are Molise (83.8 %), Calabria (74.5 %) and Valle d’Aosta (74.3 %). In Abruzzo, 61.3 % of municipalities lack a branch, affecting 163,769 residents and 11,085 enterprises. The banking group Iccrea remains the largest network with 2,450 branches, followed by Intesa Sanpaolo and UniCredit.
The trend is driven by mergers, the absorption of local banks by national groups and the spread of digital services, which many seniors and small businesses cannot fully replace. Trade unions and industry bodies warn that the loss of physical points of contact hampers credit access, increases vulnerability to fraud and threatens local economies.
Entities: Abruzzo · Banca d'Italia · Banca d’Italia · CNA (Confederazione Nazionale dell'Artigianato) · Confesercenti Modena · First Cisl · Iccrea · Italy · Mauro Rossi · Modena province · Molise · Reggio Emilia Province
Claims
What the coverage asserts, and how well corroborated each claim is across sources.
- [● 2 SOURCES] In Veneto, about 200,000 residents live in municipalities without a bank branch, and more than 60% of those territories have been branch‑less since 2015. (6c2d3012-3cbe-4664-9df3-708f2ae1a4e0, b7c138ac-0d1c-4a16-863e-da9342186eea)
- [● 2 SOURCES] Italy lost more than 11,000 bank branches between 2015 and 2025, reducing the total from 30,258 to about 19,140 (a 36.7% drop). (f676aa06-888c-4294-967c-728721071446, b7c138ac-0d1c-4a16-863e-da9342186eea)
- [● 2 SOURCES] Molise has 83.8% of its municipalities without a bank branch; Calabria 74.5%, Valle d’Aosta 74.3%, and Piemonte 65.8% are similarly unserved. (5c7a632a-d291-4e47-b6ca-ebcf09218796, f676aa06-888c-4294-967c-728721071446)
- [● 2 SOURCES] As of 2025, about 44% of Italian municipalities have no bank branch. (f676aa06-888c-4294-967c-728721071446, b7c138ac-0d1c-4a16-863e-da9342186eea)
- [● 2 SOURCES] Household bank deposits in Modena province fell by €1.051 billion between Q1 2022 and Q1 2026, a decline of about 8%. (f1a1cf98-9a4e-4106-ac1a-08d93320c251, 4b0e6f1e-0f91-44f5-8f45-8f196d9c2c74)
- [○ 1 SOURCE] Reggio Emilia province is one of eight Italian provinces where every municipality still has at least one bank branch. (145121d7-c548-4ddc-b5d8-afaf337d2a55)
- [● 3 SOURCES] In Abruzzo, 61.3% of municipalities (187 of 305) lack a bank branch, ranking the region fifth worst in Italy. (8de6767d-b888-4510-be3a-fd706873cbd8, 58d00954-6cdb-4d2a-b6aa-568219113d60, b1ccefc2-bce3-4472-850e-32d7ce86a891)
- [● 2 SOURCES] Approximately 4.84 million Italians (8.2% of the population) live in municipalities without a bank branch. (f676aa06-888c-4294-967c-728721071446, b7c138ac-0d1c-4a16-863e-da9342186eea)
- [● 3 SOURCES] In Abruzzo, 61.3 % of municipalities lack a bank branch, affecting 163,769 residents and 11,085 enterprises. (CNA, First Cisl)
- [● 4 SOURCES] 126 bank branches were closed in Italy in the first half of 2026, bringing the total number of branches to 19,016. (First Cisl, Fondazione Fiba, Banca d’Italia, Istat)
- [● 5 SOURCES] Molise has 83.8 % of its municipalities without a bank branch; Calabria 74.5 %; Valle d’Aosta 74.3 %. (CNA, First Cisl)
- [● 4 SOURCES] The number of Italian communes completely without a bank branch increased by nine in the first half of 2026. (First Cisl, Fondazione Fiba)