Federal Reserve Bulletin, Volume 93, 2007 Current Bulletin

Profits and Balance Sheet Developments at U.S. Commercial Banks in 2006

Figure 3. Number of banks, and share of assets at the largest banks, 1990-2006. Data plotted as curves. Two panels. In the top panel, the number of banks declines steadily from around 12,500 to a little less than 7,500 between 1990 and 2006. In the bottom panel, the share of bank assets held by the 100 largest banks rises steadily from about 50 percent in 1990 to just under 80 percent in 2006. The share of bank assets held by the 10 largest rises from about 20 percent in 1990 to a bit more than 50 percent in 2006.

NOTE: The data are as of year-end. For the definition of bank size, refer to the general note on the first page of the main text.

Return to text