«First Bank» Reveals the Latest Edition of the Top 100 Lending Banks in the Arab World

 UAE dominates with 17 banks in the ranking.. Jordan contributes 12 banks  

11 Egyptian banks make the list.. Saudi Arabia secures 10 positions  

Kuwait captures 9 spots among the top 100 Arab lenders  

Balanced presence for Qatar, Morocco, and Bahrain with 8 banks each  

Oman participates with 7 banks.. Tunisian sector holds 6 positions  

Algerian banking sector secures only 2 spots  

Palestine and Iraq each represented by one bank

The «First Bank» ranking of the largest 100 lending banks in the Arab world by the end of 2025 revealed that the UAE ranked first in terms of number of banks, securing 17 positions and accounting for around 26% of the total loan portfolio within the list.

The Jordanian banking sector held 12 positions; however, its contribution to total loans remained limited at around 3%. Egyptian banks secured 11 positions in the ranking, accounting for approximately 5% of total loans.

Saudi banks stood out in terms of loan share, with 10 banks accounting for about 29% of total loans among the top 100 Arab lenders, while Kuwait was represented by 9 banks, contributing around 9% of total loans.

Despite Qatar, Morocco, and Bahrain each having 8 banks in the ranking, Qatari banks accounted for around 15% of total loans, compared to approximately 6% for Moroccan banks and about 3% for Bahraini banks by the end of 2025.

Meanwhile, Oman recorded a presence with 7 banks, holding a share of around 2.7% of total loans.

Among countries with limited contribution—each accounting for less than 1% of total loans—Tunisian banks appeared with 6 positions, Algeria was represented by only 2 banks, while Palestine and Iraq each had one bank in the ranking.

The ranking was based on banks’ disclosed loan portfolios denominated in US dollars, providing a unified comparison tool across banking institutions. It excluded banks lacking official financial disclosures to ensure accuracy and reliability of the methodology.

The ranking also indicated stability among the top 10 banks by the end of 2025, as they maintained their positions unchanged compared to the «First Bank» list of the top 100 Arab lenders as of September 2025.

Qatar National Bank Group ranked first with a loan portfolio of 278.54 USD bn by the end of 2025.

Al Rajhi Bank came in second with loans totaling 200.69 USD bn.

Saudi National Bank ranked third with a loan portfolio of around 194.44 USD bn by the end of December.

Emirates NBD secured fourth place with loans of approximately 172.31 USD bn by the end of 2025.

First Abu Dhabi Bank ranked fifth with a loan portfolio of about 167.81 USD bn.

Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank came sixth with loans totaling 110.53 USD bn.

Riyad Bank ranked seventh with a loan portfolio of approximately 99.53 USD bn.

National Bank of Egypt came eighth with loans reaching around 94.10 USD bn by the end of December.

National Bank of Kuwait ranked ninth with a loan portfolio of approximately 87.09 USD bn.

SAB Bank took the tenth position with loans totaling 79.62 USD bn by the end of 2025.

It is worth noting that the ranking included parent banking groups across Arab countries and did not include their foreign subsidiaries