New Delhi: Indian government-owned banks saw a reduction of 2,044 branches and about 13,000 employees in 2022 over the previous year, a major bank employees union said on Sunday.

On the other hand, the number of branches of private banks went up by 4,023 to 34,342 branches in 2022 as compared to 2021, the All India Bank Employees' Association (AIBEA) said.

Private banks had a staff strength of 534,022 at the end of FY21, while in FY22, the number was 357,346 with the staff numbers of several banks not available on their websites, it added.

According to the AIBEA, public sector banks had 88,265 branches at the end of FY21 and the number came down to 86,221 in FY22.

Incidentally, the number of government-owned bank branches in FY20 was 90,520, the AIBEA said in a report.

The staff strength of government banks in FY21 was 807,048 and came down to 794,040 in FY22, it said, adding that the mergers of government banks in 2020 and the subsequent rationalisation of branches and staff retirements resulted in the reduction in the number of branches and staff.

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