HONG KONG, Aug. 26, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Asia Pacific’s financial services industry is on track to generate as much as US$4.8 trillion in economic value added by 2035, overtaking the United States[1] and cementing the region as the new centre of gravity for global finance.
According to a new Deloitte report, From growth to advantage: Competing for the future of financial services in Asia Pacific, the region’s broader economy is expected to expand to nearly US$54 trillion by 2030, representing growth of 37% from 2024, ahead of Europe (36%) and North America (29%).[2] This puts the region at the centre of global financial services growth, with a structurally stronger trajectory than other major markets.
"Over the next decade, many of the most important decisions on capital, payments, digital assets, artificial intelligence (AI) and financial infrastructure will be made in Asia Pacific," said Stuart Johnston, Deloitte Asia Pacific’s Financial Services Leader.
"The region has the scale, savings, innovation and talent to shape the next era of global finance. But the prize is not assured. Leadership will depend on whether institutions can connect funding with opportunity, win more demanding customers, and use AI to build sustainable advantage."
Four battlegrounds will define the next decade
The report identifies four competitive battlegrounds that will determine which institutions shape the region’s financial future and which are shaped by it.
1. Shaping the new financial system:
Asia Pacific’s growth is driving a multi-trillion-dollar investment cycle. The region is over-reliant on bank lending and under-served by capital markets.
Bank credit across 13 major Asia Pacific economies averages 122% of GDP (approximately US$54 trillion), compared with 73% in North America and 98% in three major European economies. By contrast, market-based financing is only around 53% of GDP, less than half the depth of North America.[3] At the same time, the region is a net exporter of savings. Reallocation and mobilisation are therefore two sides of the same challenge: Asia Pacific needs broader financing channels beyond banks, deeper markets, stronger intra-regional flows and a wider range of funding options, supported by firms’ ability to mobilise funding at scale, build cross-border partnerships and move beyond balance-sheet lending toward market-based financing and innovative structures.
2. Winning the customer:
Demographics, digital adoption and rising wealth are reshaping demand faster than institutions can respond, and every customer relationship is now contested.
Demographic and digital shifts are reshaping financial demand. By 2030, Asia Pacific is expected to add 174 million people and have more than 560 million people over the age of 65, while more than 362 million additional middle-income households across 13 Asia Pacific markets are expected by 2034[4]. More than 750 million customers have entered the financial system in the past decade, with the potential for 400 million more to follow.[5] Never before have Asia Pacific customers had more choice with super-apps, fintechs, digital banks and platform-based models contesting customer relationships.
The region’s wealth market is also increasingly competitive, with Asia Pacific holding US$169.7 trillion in total personal wealth in 2025 (32.8% of the global total)[6] and more than US$10 trillion of personal wealth expected to transfer within and between generations over the next 20 to 25 years.[7]
3. Navigating the AI inflection:
Firms are using AI for productivity, not transformation. The next advantage will come from redesigning the business around AI, not adding AI to what already exists.
Financial institutions are deploying AI rapidly, but many remain focused on productivity rather than transformation. Deloitte’s State of AI in the Enterprise[8] research shows that 68% of global financial services organisations report productivity gains from AI, including 66% in Asia Pacific, while only 18% report a revenue impact. The report argues that the next advantage will come from redesigning business and operating models around AI, not simply adding AI to existing processes. Fragmented data, legacy technology and brittle core systems are constraining firms’ ability to scale AI, while dependence on shared models and infrastructure will make proprietary data, context, governance and execution more important sources of differentiation.
4. Engaging the rule makers:
Governments are rewriting the rules of financial services. Institutions can help shape them or be shaped by them.
Governments and regulators across Asia Pacific are rewriting the rules of financial services as national priorities, sovereignty, resilience, AI assurance, cyber risk and digital assets move up the agenda. The report highlights that the firms which engage early with policymakers and bring practical solutions can turn regulatory complexity into a source of trust, influence and competitive advantage. Compliance costs continue to rise, with financial-crime compliance costing around US$45 billion annually in Asia Pacific, much of it driven by labour-intensive processes[9] and total regulatory compliance spend exceeding US$150 billion.[10]
"Regulation is no longer just a cost of doing business – it is a source of trust, influence and competitive advantage," said David Wai Kit Wu, Deloitte Hong Kong’s Financial Services Leader. "The firms that engage early with policymakers and bring practical solutions will shape the rules they operate under. Hong Kong and Singapore are strengthening as global financial centres, and institutions that treat them as staging grounds for regional influence will win."
Moving forward with confidence
The report concludes there is no single formula for success across Asia Pacific’s diverse markets. But every institution now faces the same choice: defend today’s profit pools or invest in the business models that will define the next decade.
For leaders across the financial services, these strategic shifts will shape that choice:
- The next phase of growth in Asia Pacific will depend on how effectively financial institutions connect capital with the region’s investment opportunities.
- Capturing this growth will require institutions to defend existing relationships while building the business models to capture the next wave of customers.
- Asia Pacific’s financial institutions need to treat AI as a core strategic priority; not just to optimise today’s business, but to build the competitive advantages that will define tomorrow’s.
"The response to uncertainty should not be caution," Johnston added. "The winners will be those that set a clear direction and execute at pace. Institutions that connect regional savings with investment needs, deepen customer relevance, build distinct AI-enabled capabilities and engage constructively with regulators will be best placed to define the next era of financial services in Asia Pacific."
To access the full report and learn more about the findings, please visit https://www.deloitte.com/ap/en/perspectives/asia-pacific-financial-services-growth-to-advantage.html
[1] The United States is expected to reach up to US$4.3 trillion over the same period from a similar starting point. Source: Deloitte Access Economics analysis. Financial services value added is the national accounts measure of the sector’s contribution to GDP, calculated as gross output (interest, fees, insurance and trading income) minus the inputs used to produce those services, broadly equivalent to net revenue at a sector level. |
[2] Deloitte Access Economics analysis on World Bank, World Development Indicators, 2026; IMF, World Economic Outlook, 2026. |
[3] Deloitte Access Economics analysis on World Bank (2025), OECD (2026) and ADB (2025) data. Market-based financing is measured as an average of market capitalisation, corporate bonds outstanding and mutual fund assets as a share of GDP. Asia Pacific 13 major economies include: Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong SAR, China Mainland, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines and Vietnam; North American economies include the US and Canada; European economies include the United Kingdom, Germany and France. |
[4] Deloitte Access Economics analysis on World Bank population data (2026), Oxford Economics (2024), World Bank, Global Findex Database (2025) |
[5] Deloitte Access Economics analysis on World Bank population data (2026), Oxford Economics (2024), World Bank, Global Findex Database (2025) |
[6] UBS, Global Wealth Report 2026 |
[7] UBS, Global Wealth Report 2025 |
[8] Deloitte, State of AI in Financial Services, 2026. Note the global FS sample is 573 respondents, Asia Pacific results relate to the unpublished responses of 91 firms across Australia, India, Japan, and Singapore and are show where there is a variation from the global financial services result. [9] Lexis Nexis, The True Cost of Financial Crime Compliance in APAC, February 2024. [10] Deloitte estimate, based on estimated 10% of expenses spent on regulation and compliance across listed Asia Pacific financial businesses with greater than US$1bn market capitalisation |
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