2026-05-04
Last year, the Lithuanian banking sector actively extended credit to both households and businesses, strengthened its cyber resilience and combated fraud, as well as made the last payments of the temporary solidarity contribution.
“The period when atypical changes in interest rates had the greatest impact on bank profits ended in 2025. Last year’s profits were driven by increased business volume, particularly the rapid growth of one bank. In order to benefit consumers, we maintain a constant dialogue with banks on both increasing service accessibility and fraud prevention,” says Julita Varanauskienė, Member of the Board of Lietuvos bankas.
International expansion as the most prominent driver of profits
At the end of 2025, there were 19 banks and branches of foreign banks operating in Lithuania. RATO Bank, UAB commenced operations at the start of 2026, while PayRay Bank, UAB ceased operations at the end of March after the ECB revoked its banking licence at the company’s own request.
Revolut Holdings Europe, UAB holds the largest market share by assets. Over the course of the year, the assets of the said institution grew by €15.2 billion, or nearly 75%, while the share of assets increased by 9.9 percentage points to 37.6%. The share of the assets of Swedbank, AB accounted for 23% of total assets, that of SEB bankas, AB for 17.1%, and that of Artea bankas, AB for 6.2%.
Total assets of the banking sector increased in 2025 by €20.9 billion (28.5%), reaching €94.3 billion, while profits, according to unaudited data, amounted to €1.063 billion. This is €42.9 million, or 4.2%, more than in 2024 (€1.020 billion). 16 banks and branches of foreign banks operated profitably, while 3 operated at a loss. The latter collectively incurred a loss of €6 million.
The sector’s profit was driven by economic growth, increased bank assets, and the active expansion of the Revolut Group’s activities in the European Union (EU). Compared to 2024, this group earned nearly 2.1 times more profit. The combined profit of the other three largest banks decreased in 2025 by €78.4 million (10.3%) to €683.7 million. Meanwhile, the combined profit of nine less significant banks increased by €8 million (nearly 2.7 times) to €12.9 million.
However, the banks’ profitability indicators continued to decline in 2025. Over the year, the return on equity fell from 21.5% to 17.2%, while the return on assets fell from 1.6% to 1.3%. The efficiency ratio, which reflects the ratio of expenses to income, improved, standing by the end of 2025 at 44.4%, a change of 0.6 percentage points over the year.
The period for paying the solidarity levy ended in 2025. Since May 2023, banks operating in Lithuania, branches of foreign banks, and other credit institutions have transferred a total of approximately €540 million in temporary solidarity contribution to the state budget.
Consumer loans gained the most momentum
The largest market participants are the most active in the lending market, while the activities of less significant banks in this area are partly constrained by their low capital.
The loan portfolio grew by more than a fifth (22.3%) over the year, from €31.7 billion to €38.8 billion. Loans to households accounted for the largest share of the portfolio in question (41.2%). Over the year, they increased by €3.4 billion (19.8%), reaching €20.4 billion. The housing loan portfolio grew by 14.6% (€1.9 billion) to €14.6 billion. The consumer loan portfolio, largely due to loans to foreign consumers, grew by 37.4% (€1.1 billion), amounting to €4.1 billion. Half of all consumer loans were granted by the Revolut Group.
Loans to businesses totalled €14.6 billion. They increased by €2 billion (15.4%) over the year. The net value of loans granted to enterprises engaged in professional, scientific and technical activities increased the most – by €0.435 billion to €1 billion. Loans to real estate enterprises increased by €0.381 billion to €3.89 billion, while loans to electricity, gas, steam, and air conditioning enterprises increased by €0.368 billion, reaching €1.4 billion.
Deposits from non-residents grew the fastest
At the end of 2025, banks held €78.8 billion in deposits. Of this amount, deposits from Lithuanian residents totalled €26.9 billion, while deposits from foreign residents and businesses totalled €34.1 billion. The latter increased by €13.3 billion (63.6%) over the year. This rapid growth was largely driven by the expansion of the Revolut Group in various EU countries. Deposits held by Lithuanian residents in banks increased by €4.3 billion (10.6%) over the year.
Over the year, interest rates on residents’ fixed-term deposits in euros fell from 2.70% to 1.86% and for businesses – from 2.63% to 1.91%. In other euro area countries, average interest rates on fixed-term household deposits stood at 1.82% and on corporate deposits – at 1.91%. These trends were also reflected in the behaviour of residents, as the share of fixed-term and savings deposits in the total deposit portfolio declined from 21% to 17%. That said, interest rates have risen again, with banks currently offering annual interest rates ranging from 1.5% to 3% on one-year fixed-term deposits. Government defence bonds may also be an attractive alternative for residents seeking to balance security and return.
In 2025, average interest rates on new housing loans fell from 4.36% to 3.69% and on new loans to businesses from 5.32% to 4.49%.
Strengthening resilience
In 2025, banks reported 25 major incidents related to information and communication technologies (ICT), four of which involved cybercrime. Lietuvos bankas supervised how banks manage ICT-related risks in accordance with the revised regulation and added a new tool to its arsenal, namely, a cyber resilience stress test.
Significant attention was paid to fraud prevention. Last year, banks blocked and prevented the misappropriation of nearly €40 million; in 2024, this amount stood at approximately €15 million. However, over the past two years, even with strengthened safeguards, fraudsters have managed to swindle €20 million a year from residents and businesses. Lietuvos bankas prepared a package of legislative initiatives aimed at combating fraud and submitted it to the Government.
Information on each bank’s key performance indicators and compliance with prudential requirements is published quarterly on Lietuvos bankas’ website.
Bank activity reviews are published here.