Capital subscription

Last updated on 30 January 2020

The capital of the ECB comes from the national central banks (NCBs) of all EU Member States and amounts to €10,825,007,069.61.

The NCBs’ shares in this capital are calculated using a key which reflects the respective country’s share in the total population and gross domestic product of the EU. These two determinants have equal weighting. The ECB adjusts the shares every five years and whenever there is a change in the number of NCBs that contribute to the ECB’s capital. These NCBs are those whose countries are Member States of the EU. The adjustment is made on the basis of data provided by the European Commission.

Since the start of Stage Three of Economic and Monetary Union on 1 January 1999 the capital key has changed eight times: a five-yearly update was made on 1 January 2004, on 1 January 2009, on 1 January 2014 and on 1 January 2019; additional changes were made on 1 May 2004 (when the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia joined the EU), on 1 January 2007 (when Bulgaria and Romania joined the EU), on 1 July 2013 (when Croatia joined the EU) and on 1 February 2020 (following the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the EU).

Euro area national central banks

The paid-up subscriptions of euro area NCBs to the capital of the ECB amount to a total of €7,583,649,493.38 and break down as follows:

Euro area NCBs’ contributions to the ECB’s capital(1)

National central bank Capital key % Paid-up capital (€)

(1) The euro area NCBs will pay up in full their increased subscriptions as a result of the Bank of England’s withdrawal from the European System of Central Banks in two annual instalments at the end of 2021 and 2022 respectively (see ECB press release published on the ECB’s website on 30 January 2020).

(2) Owing to rounding, the total may not correspond to the sum of all figures shown. Nationale Bank van België/Banque Nationale de Belgique (Belgium) 2.9630 276,290,916.71 Deutsche Bundesbank (Germany) 21.4394 1,999,160,134.91 Eesti Pank (Estonia) 0.2291 21,362,892.01 Central Bank of Ireland (Ireland) 1.3772 128,419,794.29 Bank of Greece (Greece) 2.0117 187,585,027.73 Banco de España (Spain) 9.6981 904,318,913.05 Banque de France (France) 16.6108 1,548,907,579.93 Banca d'Italia (Italy) 13.8165 1,288,347,435.28 Central Bank of Cyprus (Cyprus) 0.1750 16,318,228.29 Latvijas Banka (Latvia) 0.3169 29,549,980.26 Lietuvos bankas (Lithuania) 0.4707 43,891,371.75 Banque centrale du Luxembourg (Luxembourg) 0.2679 24,980,876.34 Central Bank of Malta (Malta) 0.0853 7,953,970.70 De Nederlandsche Bank (The Netherlands) 4.7662 444,433,941.02 Oesterreichische Nationalbank (Austria) 2.3804 221,965,203.55 Banco de Portugal (Portugal) 1.9035 177,495,700.29 Banka Slovenije (Slovenia) 0.3916 36,515,532.56 Národná banka Slovenska (Slovakia) 0.9314 86,850,273.32 Suomen Pankki – Finlands Bank (Finland) 1.4939 139,301,721.39 Total(2) 81.3286 7,583,649,493.38

The net profits and losses of the ECB are allocated among the euro area NCBs in accordance with Article 33 of the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank:

Legal framework

Allocation of net profits and losses of the ECB

33.1. The net profit of the ECB shall be transferred in the following order:

an amount to be determined by the Governing Council, which may not exceed 20% of the net profit, shall be transferred to the general reserve fund subject to a limit equal to 100% of the capital; the remaining net profit shall be distributed to the shareholders of the ECB in proportion to their paid-up shares.

33.2. In the event of a loss incurred by the ECB, the shortfall may be offset against the general reserve fund of the ECB and, if necessary, following a decision by the Governing Council, against the monetary income of the relevant financial year in proportion and up to the amounts allocated to the national central banks in accordance with Article 32.5.

Non-euro area national central banks

The EU’s eight non-euro area NCBs are required to contribute to the operational costs incurred by the ECB in relation to their participation in the European System of Central Banks by paying up a small percentage of their share in the ECB’s subscribed capital. Since 29 December 2010 their contributions have represented 3.75% of their total share in the subscribed capital. The capital paid to the ECB by the non-euro area NCBs amounts to €75,794,263.89 and breaks down as follows:

Non-euro area NCBs’ contributions to the ECB’s capital

National central bank Capital key % Paid-up capital (€) (1) Owing to rounding, the total may not correspond to the sum of all figures shown. Българска народна банка (Bulgarian National Bank) (Bulgaria) 0.9832 3,991,180.11 Česká národní banka (Czech Republic) 1.8794 7,629,194.36 Danmarks Nationalbank (Denmark) 1.7591 7,140,851.23 Hrvatska narodna banka (Croatia) 0.6595 2,677,159.56 Magyar Nemzeti Bank (Hungary) 1.5488 6,287,164.11 Narodowy Bank Polski (Poland) 6.0335 24,492,255.06 Banca Naţională a României (Romania) 2.8289 11,483,573.44 Sveriges Riksbank (Sweden) 2.9790 12,092,886.02 Total(1) 18.6714 75,794,263.89

The non-euro area NCBs are not entitled to receive any share of the distributable profits of the ECB, nor are they liable to fund any losses of the ECB.

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