Access to bank financing for companies - 2025-Q4
Published on the 5th of February 2026
Access to credit for businesses remains favorable
- In the fourth quarter of 2025, applications for investment loans remained stable for Mid-Sized Companies (MSC) and fell slightly for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SME), while access to credit for French companies remained favorable overall and approval rates for investment loans were still high for both categories of companies.
- Applications for cash flow loans remained stable for SMEs at 6% but dropped slightly for MSCs (from 9% to 7%).
- The share of companies reporting an increase in the overall cost of credit is stable, with a slight increase for MSCs (up by 2 points), offset by a slight decrease for SMEs (down by 1 point), confirming the trend seen since the second quarter of 2025.
NB: This survey covers bank loans only; some companies also have access to market financing options, which offer funding solutions not included in this survey.
Data not seasonally adjusted, in %; excluding use of previously granted credit lines
Scope: companies with autonomy to decide on credit applications: SMEs = 10 - 249 employees; MSCs = 250 - 4999 employees
Scope: companies with autonomy to decide on credit applications: SMEs = 10 - 249 employees; MSCs = 250 - 4999 employees
New investment loans
- The share of companies applying for new investment loans fell to 18% for SMEs and remained stable at 28% for MSCs in Q4 2025 (see Chart 1).
- The approval rates for these loan applications are very high for both SMEs and MSCs: 96% of SMEs and 97% of mid-sized companies that applied for a loan obtained it in full or for more than 75% of the amount requested (see Chart 2).
New cash flow loans
- The proportion of companies applying for new cash loans remained stable at 6% for SMEs, while it fell to 7% for MSCs (see Chart 3).
- For these loans, the approval rate in full or for more than 75% of the amount requested rose very slightly in the last quarter.
SMEs saw their approval rate increase from 83% to 85%, and MSCs from 83% to 84% (see Chart 4).
Complements
1 - Credit lines
For operational needs, SMEs and MSCs can apply (usually at the beginning of the year) for credit lines granting them drawing rights throughout the year.
- Loan applications have remained stable for several quarters across all firm sizes: around one-third of SMEs and nearly half of MSCs requested new credit lines over the past twelve months (see Chart 5).
- These requests continue to be largely granted (in full or for more than 75%) in over 95% of cases for both SMEs and MSCs.
- 53% of SMEs drew on their credit lines, down by
2 percentage points from the previous quarter. Conversely, 64% of MSCs drew on their credit lines, which represents a marked 8 percentage point increase compared with Q3 2025.
2- Approval rate for new equipment loan
Among investment loans, equipment loans are intended to finance intangible or tangible assets, excluding real estate.
- Approval rates for equipment loans (granted in full or for more than 75% of the requested amount) remain high for SMEs, at 94%. After declining over the last two quarters, it rose for MSCs to a level almost comparable to Q1 2025 (92%), with a rate of 91% in Q4 2025 (see Chart 6).
3- Evolution of the cost of credit
- In Q4 2025, 86% of SMEs and MSCs reported that the overall cost of credit had either remained stable or decreased (see Chart 7).
- The share of companies reporting a decrease in the overall cost of credit compared to the previous quarter fell slightly from 14% to 12% for SMEs, and from 24% to 16% for MSCs.
- The proportion of companies reporting an increase in the overall cost of credit compared to the previous quarter fell by 1 point for SMEs, from 14% to 13%, but rose to 14% for MSCs (up by 2 points).
- A majority of companies (74% of SMEs and 70% of MSCs) reported that the overall cost of credit remained stable in Q4 2025, a slight increase compared to the previous quarter.
4. Self-censorship
Self-censorship refers to a situation in which a company does not apply for new bank credit because it anticipates that the banks will refuse its application.
In the fourth quarter of 2025, this phenomenon remained marginal: less than 2% of companies reported self-censorship as the reason for not applying for cash credit lines or investment loans.
In the fourth quarter of 2025, this phenomenon remained marginal: less than 2% of companies reported self-censorship as the reason for not applying for cash credit lines or investment loans.
Download the PDF version of the document
EN_Stat_Info_access_to_bank_financing__of_companies_2025Q4.pdf
Updated on the 4th of February 2026