Customer Loans for banking sector jump by 379% over the last 5 years, recording EGP 9.05 tn

The Egyptian banking sector has witnessed a boom in lending activity over the past five years, reflecting the growing financing needs of individual and institutional clients alike, as lending and discount balances granted to clients from banks (other than the Central Bank of Egypt) jumped to 9.05 trillion pounds at the end of March 2025, compared to 1.89 trillion pounds at the end of 2019, an increase of 7.16 trillion pounds and a growth rate of 379% This is a strong indication of the expansion of financing activity within the Egyptian market.

Highlighting the growth rates achieved in the total portfolio over the past years, we find that the banking sector achieved the fastest annual growth rate in the total lending and discount balances of customers from banks «other than the Central Bank» during the past year by 53.3%, as the portfolio size recorded 8.38 trillion pounds by the end of 2024, compared to 5.46 trillion by the end of 2023, representing an increase of 2.91 trillion pounds.

The banking sector also recorded the second fastest annual growth rate in the total lending and discount balances of bank customers (other than the central bank) during the year 2023 at a rate of 33.4%, while it witnessed the third fastest annual growth rate in 2022 at a rate of 32.1%.As for the development of the portfolio in the years 2021 and 2020, it achieved Growth rates of 24.3% and 31.9%, respectively.

Given the development of lending balances granted to customers by banks (other than the Central Bank) during the first quarter of 2025, the size of the portfolio increased from 8.38 trillion pounds by the end of 2024, to 9.05 trillion pounds by the end of March 2025, achieving a growth rate of 8.1% and an increase of 677.13 billion pounds during the first 3 months of this year.

In general, the Egyptian banking sector achieved good performance during the first quarter of this year, as the portfolio of bank assets (other than the Central Bank) increased by about 9%, reaching 22.67 trillion pounds by the end of March 2025, compared to 20.80 trillion pounds by the end of 2024, which represents an increase of 1.87 trillion pounds.  

The deposit portfolio of bank customers increased at a growth rate of 6.2% during the first quarter of this year, recording 14.32 trillion pounds by the end of March 2025, compared to 13.48 trillion pounds by the end of 2024, a total increase of 838.45 billion pounds.