Forbes releases the list of the world’s top performing banks in 2026: 500 banks from 89 countries
For the first time, Forbes has ranked the World’s Top Performing Banks, in partnership with market research firm Statista. “Unlike our existing national and global Statista-partnered bank rankings, which are based primarily on customer evaluations obtained through surveys, this new ranking was predicated on objective financial data obtained through leading data providers (such as the S&P Capital IQ platform), desk research, and data submissions from banks via Forbes.com, thereby ensuring that the analysis included the most up-to-date information.” – according to the press release.
To be eligible for evaluation in this inaugural ranking, financial institutions were required to: be licensed deposit-taking banks with a core business that includes lending to retail or corporate clients; report under reconcilable national accounting standards; publish financial statements for the most recent fully available and audited fiscal year and provide at least three consecutive years of financial data; and have more than $3 billion in assets.
Banks that met these criteria were then evaluated across four main dimensions: profitability (weighted at 30%); growth and earnings quality (20%); capital and funding resilience (25%); and asset quality and efficiency (25%). The profitability score was calculated by combining return and efficacy metrics, such as return on average assets, cost-to-income ratio and net interest margin. The growth and earnings quality score was calculated by factoring in earnings growth and stability along with customer deposit growth indicators over three-year periods. The capital and funding resilience score was determined by combining capital strength and funding structure indicators, such as equity ratio and loan-to-deposit ratio. Finally, the asset quality and efficiency score was calculated by assessing indicators of credit quality, risk management and balance sheet resilience.
Before the scores were calculated, however, eligible banks were segmented into six tiers based on their total assets so that the analysis compared financial institutions within their respective peer group sizes. Tier 1 (aka global banks) included those with more than $500 billion in total assets; Tier 2 (large banks) included those with $100 to $500 billion in total assets; Tier 3 (upper mid-size banks), $50 to $100 billion; Tier 4 (mid-size banks), $20 to $50 billion; Tier 5 (lower mid-size banks), $10 to $20 billion; and Tier 6 (small banks), $3 to $10 billion.
Ultimately, 500 banks from 89 countries made the list of World’s Top Performing Banks 2026, representing a global view of high-performing financial institutions across markets. The full list is presented below.
At the top of the rankings for global banks were two from Singapore, OCBC Bank and DBS Group, in the No. 1 and No. 2 spots respectively. In the large banks tier, CBZ Bank in Zimbabwe came in at No. 1 while Saudi Awwal Bank in Saudi Arabia landed at No. 2. For upper mid-size banks, two Saudi Arabia-based banks took the lead, with Alinma in No. 1 and Arab National Bank in No. 2. In the mid-size banks category, Sofi earned the No. 1 rank followed by Commercial International Bank Egypt (CIB) in No. 2. Earning the top two positions for lower mid-size banks were Ringkøbing Landbobank in Denmark (No. 1) and International Bancshares (No. 2) based in Texas. Rounding out the ranking, AUB Asia United Bank in the Philippines ranked No. 1 in the small bank category, followed by Moldova-based Maib at No. 2.
