According to the Bank of Portugal (BdP), banking ended last year with 61,740 workers, against 63,806 in 2019, and a total of 4,868 branches, against 5,523 in 2019.

It is necessary to go back to 1996 to find a lower number of branches (4,844) open in the country.

With regard to workers, the 2020 figure is the lowest since there is data available for this indicator (year 1992, in which there were 63,752 workers).

The total number of employees in the Portuguese banking system reached a high in 2011, with 80,169 employees, but has been decreasing since then.

The decrease in employees in 2020 occurred mainly in the external activity of banks, which ended last year with 45,745 employees, the lowest value since the beginning of the long series of BdP (1990).

There were 15,995 employees dedicated to the external activity of banks in 2020, the lowest number since 2006 (15,275).

The long series is a database on the banking system that includes historical information on financial indicators, loans to customers, interest rates, human resources, branch distribution and payment systems since 1990.

The long series of the banking sector were released for the first time in 2019, with the aim of providing analysts and researchers with integrated, consistent and scrutinised information on the banking sector in Portugal. The database has been updated annually.