(ZENIT News / Vatican City, 06.12.2025).- The Istituto per le Opere di Religione (IOR), better known as “Vatican Bank”, published the thirteenth edition of its Annual Report, containing the 2024 Financial Statements, prepared in accordance with IAS-IFRS.
In line with the objectives of the strategic plan and fulfilling its primary role of serving the Catholic Church in the world, the Institute achieved the following results in 2024:
- 32.8 million Euro net income, up 7% vs. 2023.
- +5.8% interest margin, +13.2% commission margin, +3.6% intermediation margin vs. 2023.
- +16.1% Tier 1 ratio vs. 2023, at 69.43%, due to a general decrease in risk and an increase in equity.
- 5.7 billion Euro total deposits (i.e., deposits, current accounts, managed asset, and securities under custody) managed by the Institute vs.5.4 billion Euro in 2023.
- 731.9 million Euro net assets, up 64.3 million Euro vs. 2023.
The growth of the net income was achieved thanks to the positive contribution of the interest margin, the commission margin and the intermediation margin, together with careful cost control.
Numerous non-financial improvements can also be noted as the IOR strengthened key functions and hired new specialized resources. Targeted investments led to the development of an improved digital and IT infrastructure – all with the goal of better supporting our customers.
The robustness of the Tier 1 ratio, as well as the liquidity ratios, rank the Institute among the most solid financial institutions in the world in terms of capitalization and liquidity.
The Financial Statements received a “clean” audit opinion from the auditing firm Mazars Italia S.p.A., and were unanimously approved on April 29, 2025 by the Institute’s Board of Superintendence and, as required by the Statutes, forwarded to the Commission of Cardinals for evaluation.
In light of the solid financial data from the 2024 Financial Statements, and considering the Institute’s capitalization needs, the Commission of Cardinals approved the distribution of a dividend to the Holy Father of 13.8 million Euro, in line with the Institute’s mission to support works of religion and charity.
Throughout 2024, the IOR continued to expand its range of banking and investment services offered, all in full compliance to the principles of the Social Doctrine of the Catholic Church.
The quality of the investment services was confirmed by the performance of the Institute’s asset management lines, which reported positive and, in 79% of cases, above benchmark returns.
***
The Istituto per le Opere di Religione (IOR) offers its clients banking and investment services, managing the assets entrusted to it in accordance with the Social Doctrine of the Catholic Church and the highest international standards.
Being the only institution authorized to professionally carry out activities of a financial nature in the Vatican City State, the IOR serves more than 12,000 clients belonging to or serving the Catholic Church, in more than 110 countries around the world.
Adopting a management model developed in-house over time, the IOR operates in the financial markets through an active investment process, combining careful selection of investable assets with the clients’ risk and return objectives.
Thank you for reading our content. If you would like to receive ZENIT’s daily e-mail news, you can subscribe for free through this link.
