The number of monetary financial institutions (MFIs) in Europe declined in the year 2012 compared with 2011, a European Central Bank (ECB) report said on Monday.

On Jan. 1, 2013, the total number of MFIs in the euro area and the European Union (EU) as a whole respectively declined by 474 units and 511 units compared with the situation a year ago, the report said.

There were 7,059 and 9,076 MFIs in the euro area and EU respectively on Jan. 1. Declines of number of MFIs were observed across the whole of the euro area with only a few small exceptions, said the report.

As for the euro area, the decrease in relative terms was particularly pronounced in Slovakia, Luxembourg, France, Spain and Finland, down by 30 percent, 22 percent, 9 percent, 8 percent and 8 percent respectively. Luxembourg lost the largest number of MFIs in the euro area in 2012 with 124 MFIs gone, followed by France and Italy.

The substantial decrease in the number of money market funds, which are also part of MFIs, since 2011 was partly due to the new definition under the ECB, said the report.

A chart going with the report shows that there has been a downward trend for the number of MFIs in the euro area and EU since 1999. Despite the enlargement of the euro area, the number of MFIs in the euro area has decreased by 28 percent or 2,797 institutions since Jan. 1, 1999, according to the report.

Xinhua