Research Trends in ESG and Banking Performance

The purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive analysis of the existing literature on ESG and banking performance.A bibliometric analysis was conducted using data extracted from the Scopus databases, covering the period from 2016 to July 2025.Based on a search within the fields of "article title, abstract, keywords", a total of 179 documents were selected for further analysis.BiblioMagika was employed to generate citation metrics, OpenRefine was used to clean and standardise the dataset, and VOSviewer was applied for data visualisation.These findings are presented through bibliometric indicators, particularly subject areas, publication trends, source titles, leading contributors and author keyword co-occurrence analysis.As a result, most articles were published in the field of economics, econometrics, and finance.In addition, there was a significant spike in total citations in 2019, reaching 1238 citations, whereas the highest number of publications was recorded in 2024, with a total of 64.Furthermore, Finance Research Letters has contributed the most articles to ESG and banking performance research.Moreover, Amina Mohammed Buallay stands out as the most productive and influential author in this field.Brunel University London leads in institutional contributions, while Italy emerges as the top contributing country for ESG and banking performance studies.Lastly, the author keyword of "ESG" emerged as the most frequently used term in the field of ESG and banking performance studies.Therefore, the analysis of existing literature offers valuable insights for both scholars and policymakers, establishing a solid foundation for future research in this field.