Quarterly cost-to-income ratio of the banking industry in the EU 2007-2024

The cost-to-income ratio (CIR) is a vital financial metric for evaluating bank efficiency, representing operational costs as a percentage of income. A lower CIR indicates higher profitability for a bank or banking sector. The European Union's banking industry experienced significant CIR fluctuations in recent years. In the first quarter of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic triggered a peak CIR of 73.29 percent, the highest in the observed period, reflecting widespread economic disruption. As the EU economy stabilized in 2021, the banking sector saw marked improvement, with the CIR decreasing substantially. Throughout 2023, the CIR stabilized around 53 percent, indicating a return to more efficient operations. However, the last quarter of 2023 saw a slight increase to 53.7 percent, suggesting minor efficiency challenges. In the first half of 2024, the ratio decreased slightly, standing at 52.76 percent in the second quarter of 2024.

成本收入比（CIR）是评估银行效率的关键财务指标，它将运营成本以收入百分比的形式呈现。较低的CIR表明银行或银行业的盈利能力更高。近年来，欧盟的银行业经历了显著的CIR波动。在2020年第一季度，COVID-19大流行引发了73.29%的峰值CIR，为观察期间最高，反映了广泛的经济动荡。随着欧盟经济在2021年稳定，银行业实现了显著改善，CIR大幅下降。2023年全年，CIR稳定在53%左右，标志着运营效率的回归。然而，2023年第四季度CIR略有上升至53.7%，暗示着轻微的效率挑战。2024年前半年，该比率略有下降，至2024年第二季度的52.76%。