Industry invested in market expansion and technology, but tariffs loom.
It is never good when the most favorable assessment for a given year is, “It could have been worse.”
Growing protectionism, slowing economic growth, and increased uncertainty have fueled a challenging business environment over the past 12 months, especially for banks worldwide. Such being the case, the top-performing banks stand out even more dramatically. The winners in the first round of Global Finance’s Best Bank Awards 2026, covering regional and country categories, demonstrated the high level of skill and expertise required to deliver top performance for their clients. (Round II winners—the global honorees—will be featured in the October issue.)
When the Trump administration’s Liberation Day imposed a 10% tariff on almost all countries last year, it upended the global trading system that had been in place since the end of World War II. Such an economic shock would have had a greater impact if the US had not set a 90-day delay in enforcing the new duties. That provided businesses with enough time to front load orders to their suppliers and reconfigure their supply chains to mitigate the effects.
While the new tariff levels were the highest since the 1930s, the authors of the World Bank’s Global Economic Prospects, published in January, estimate the effective rate rose by about 17% by the end of last year, which was “well below the mid-April peak of 28%” due to Washington’s negotiation of numerous bilateral trade agreements.
Countries did their best to mitigate the effects without sparking a full-blown trade war, but this came at a cost. The International Monetary Fund expected global GDP growth to slow in 2025, from 3.3% in 2024 to 3.2%. As the benefits of frontloading unwound in the latter half of the year, weaker data suggests that growth will continue to contract to 3.1% in 2026.
Last year also marked the high point of a rapid, five-year global recovery from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The World Bank authors noted that per capita income is above pre-pandemic levels for 90% of the advanced economies. However, more than a quarter of the emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs) have yet to regain their 2019 levels.
Even in the developed economies, growth remained unequal. According to World Bank data, US GDP grew 2.2% last year, buoyed by significant investments in AI-related technology and data centers. The euro area recorded 1.4% GDP growth, fueled by front-loaded exports and stronger-than-expected domestic demand.
Japan, meanwhile, enjoyed increases in consumption and capital spending and benefitted from frontloading exports, which combined to deliver an estimated 1.3% boost in GDP. Notwithstanding fiscal stimulus and consumer subsidies, China saw GDP contract to 4.9% due to slowing investment growth, particularly in the real estate sector.
Real GDP growth came from EMDEs, which delivered a 4.2% growth rate, driven by exports and a resilient service sector. Demand for semiconductors contributed substantially to EMDE growth in the Asia-Pacific region.
Dramatic changes in geopolitical risk in 2026—notably, the oil price shock from the Iran war—have landed the global energy and petrochemical sectors, as well as the global economy, in uncharted territory. Businesses will need to hope for the best while preparing for the worst. —Rob Daly
Methodology
With input from industry analysts, corporate executives, and technology experts, Global Finance editors select the winners of the World’s Best Bank awards using the information provided in entries and independent research, based on objective and subjective factors. It is unnecessary to enter to win, but materials supplied in an entry can increase the chance of success. Entrants may provide details that are not publicly available.
Judgments are based on performance from January 1 to December 31, 2025. We then apply an algorithm to narrow the list of contenders and arrive at a numerical score, with 100 representing perfection. The algorithm incorporates criteria weighted for relative importance, including knowledge of local conditions and customers, financial strength and safety, strategic relationships, capital investment, and innovation in products and services.
Once we have narrowed the field, our final criteria include the scope of global coverage, staff size, customer service, risk management, product and service range, execution skills, and the intelligent use of technology. In the case of a tie, our bias leans toward a local provider rather than a global institution. We also tend to favor privately owned banks over government-owned institutions. The winners are those banks that best serve the specialized needs of corporations as they engage in global business. Winners are not always the biggest but the best: those with the qualities companies should look for when choosing a provider.
Meet the Winners
