Bank closures: how many branches of Barclays, Lloyds, RBS, HSBC have closed across the UK - and how much have banks made in profit this year?

The past few years have seen high street banks close as they say a rapid increase in online and mobile banking has led to the decline of physical banks. 

Consumer champion Which? has been tracking bank closures since 2015, where high street banks have been closing in their thousands. But how many banks have closed since 2015, and how much profit are the banks still making? Here is what you need to know. 

How many bank branches have closed since 2015?

Since January 2015, banks and building societies have closed 5,791 branches at a rate of around 54 each month - numbers correct as of 4 December 2023. These numbers include branches as 20 major current account providers.

NatWest Group, which is comprised of NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland and Ulster Bank, has closed 1,330 branches - the most of any banking group. Lloyds Banking Group, made up of Lloyds Bank, Halifax and Bank of Scotland, has shut down 1,057 sites. Barclays is the individual bank that has reduced its network the most, with 1,130 branches now closed.

It was in 2017 when bank branch closures reached their peak and 867 sites were lost around the UK, at a rate of more than 70 a month. Similarly, some 792 branches closed in 2018. This rate slowed in 2019 when 444 branches closed, and fewer shut in 2020 - with 369 sites closing. Barclays closed the most branches in 2020 (105), followed by TSB (91).

In 2021, that number rose to 735 for the whole year.

Closures continued into 2022, with a final count of 662 closures by the end of the year. Barclays once again had the most shuttered branches (184).

In 2023, there have been around 645 closures. Barclays leads the pack with 180 pencilled in for shuttering, followed by NatWest with 138 and HSBC with 114 set to close. Others with branches shutting in 2023 include Lloyds with 85, Halifax with 52, Virgin Money with 40, Bank of Scotland with 16, TSB with nine, Santander with five, RBS with four and Nationwide with two.

Bank closures have already been scheduled for 2024, 60 from Lloyds, 25 from Halifax, 47 from NatWest, 34 from Barclays, 16 from Bank of Scotland, 10 Ulster Bank branches and one RBS branch, totalling 189. 

Nationwide is currently the provider with the most branches remaining open across the country, with 605 outlets still operating. The building society has also pledged to not leave any town or city in which it is based until at least 2026.

How much have banks made in profit this year?

According to Unite the Union, in the first nine months of 2023, the banks made £41 billion in pre-tax profits - which is almost double the £23 billion made last year. If they finish the year at the same rate, they’ll end up pulling in the equivalent of £1,000 for everyone who lives in England.

• HSBC has recorded a pretax profit of $7.7 billion, for the third quarter of 2023
• Natwest has recorded an attributable profit of £866 million for their Q3 2023 with an attributable profit of £3,165 million for the year to date (October 2023)
• Barclays announced its pre-tax profits for the third quarter of 2023 were £1.9 billion, taking its profits for 2023 (until October 2023) to £6.5 billion
• Lloyds Banking Group reported a pre-tax profit of 1.9 billion pounds ($2.3 billion) for the three months to 30 September
• Santander reports attributable profit of €8,143 million (£7,019m) for the first nine months of 2023