Financing of entreprises - 2025-02
Published on the 10th of April 2025
The average cost of bank loans to NFCs falls below 4%
- In February 2025, growth in financing to non-financial companies (NFCs) reached +1.8% year-on-year, stable compared with the previous month. It continues to be driven by bank loans (+2.3% as in January) and, to a lesser extent, by debt securities (+0.8% after +1.0%).
- The average interest rate on new bank loans fell by 13 basis points (bps) in February (3.92%, down from 4.05% in January) to below 4% for the first time since April 2023, while the average rate on debt securities declined by 20 bps (3.28%, down from 3.48% in January).
1 - Overview of NFCs : Outstanding amounts and flows in € Bn, annual growth rate and cost in %
(non-seasonally adjusted) ![]()
| Feb-2025 (p) | Annual growth rate | Cost (annual Interest rate) | |||||||||
| Outstanding
amounts |
Transactions
(cumulative over 12 month) |
New business
(cumulative over 12 month) |
Feb- 2024 | Dec- 2024 | Jan-2025 (r) | Feb-2025 (p) | Feb- 2024 | Dec- 2024 | Jan-2025 (r) | Feb-2025 (p) | |
| NFC's global financing | 2,074.8 | 35.9 | 686.5 | 0.9 | 1.5 | 1.8 | 1.8 | 4.39 | 3.94 | 3.85 | 3.70 |
| Loans | 1,371.9 | 30.4 | 328.2 | 1.2 | 2.1 | 2.3 | 2.3 | 4.76 | 4.18 | 4.05 | 3.92 |
| Investment | 992.3 | 4.1 | 3.5 | 3.6 | 3.4 | ||||||
| equipment | 624.6 | 4.3 | 3.9 | 3.8 | 3.5 | ||||||
| real-estate | 367.7 | 3.8 | 2.9 | 3.2 | 3.2 | ||||||
| Treasury | 304.5 | -8.1 | -2.9 | -2.9 | -1.9 | ||||||
| Other lending | 75.1 | 8.3 | 4.1 | 6.9 | 5.2 | ||||||
| Loans up to €1 million | 115.3 | 4.67 | 4.17 | 4.06 | 3.93 | ||||||
| Loans over €1 million | 212.9 | 4.81 | 4.18 | 4.04 | 3.91 | ||||||
| Securities other than shares | 702.8 | 5.5 | 358.4 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 1.0 | 0.8 | 3.68 | 3.49 | 3.48 | 3.28 |
(r): revised data ; (p): provisional data
Monthly changes in outstanding loans by purpose (seasonally adjusted data in € Bn)![]()
Cost (all maturities combined) by financing sources (in %) ![]()
2- Loans to firms by size ![]()
- In February 2025, the growth rate of outstanding loans stabilised for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and companies of unspecified size at +1.1%. It increased for intermediate-sized companies (ISEs) from +0.6% to +1%, and for large firms (GE) from +2.3% to +4.2%.
- The average cost of new bank loans continues to fall (3.92% in February), decreasing by 14 bps for SMEs and companies of unspecified size, and by 11 bps for ETIs and GEs.
| Outstanding
amounts (in Bn €) |
Annual growth rate in % | Cost in % (annual interest rate) |
|||||||
| Feb-2025 | Feb- 2024 | Dec- 2024 | Jan-2025 (r) | Feb-2025 (p) | Feb- 2024 | Dec- 2024 | Jan-2025 (r) | Feb-2025 (p) | |
| All firms | 1,371.9 | 1.2 | 2.1 | 2.3 | 2.3 | 4.76 | 4.18 | 4.05 | 3.92 |
| Of which: | |||||||||
| - SME and unspecified size | 566.3 | 1.6 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 5.01 | 4.13 | 3.99 | 3.85 |
| - ISE | 388.5 | 2.7 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 1.0 | 4.30 | 4.27 | 4.16 | 4.05 |
| - Large firms | 208.1 | -3.9 | 1.9 | 2.3 | 4.2 | 4.88 | 4.13 | 3.99 | 3.88 |
Interest rates (all maturities combined) by enterprise size (in %)![]()
Outstanding amounts of loans to resident enterprises by size (in € Bn) ![]()
3 - Outstanding amounts by sector * (stocks in € Bn, annual growth rate in %)![]()
Growth in loans outstanding varied considerably from one economic sector to another. It remains positive for the business consultancy and services sector (+10.4%), real estate (+3.9%), agriculture, forestry and fishing (+3.2%), transport and warehousing (+3.1%) and information and communication (+2.1%). On the other hand, outstanding loans continued to contract in the accommodation and catering sector (-3%), construction (-2.9%), trade (-2.9%) and industrial activities (-2.2%).
| Drawn credits | Drawn and undrawn credits | |||||||
| Outstanding amounts | Annual growth rate in % | Outstanding amounts | Annual growth rate in % | |||||
| Feb-2025 (p) | Feb- 2024 | Jan-2025 (r) | Feb-2025 (p) | Feb-2025 (p) | Feb- 2024 | Jan-2025 (r) | Feb-2025 (p) | |
| Agriculture, forestry and fishing (AZ) | 67.6 | 3.8 | 3.1 | 3.2 | 76.4 | 1.80 | 2.7 | 3.0 |
| Industry (BE) | 165.9 | -4.0 | -3.2 | -2.2 | 265.0 | -2.10 | -2.4 | -1.3 |
| - inc. Manufacturing (C) | 114.4 | -1.8 | -3.0 | -3.2 | 183.7 | -1.30 | -1.5 | -1.3 |
| Construction (FZ) | 69.9 | -1.0 | -4.4 | -3.0 | 106.4 | -4.10 | -2.1 | -1.0 |
| Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (G) | 181.4 | -2.3 | -3.4 | -2.9 | 251.4 | -3.50 | -2.0 | -2.1 |
| Transportation and storage (H) | 65.4 | 2.2 | 4.0 | 3.1 | 83.2 | 2.40 | 4.2 | 3.9 |
| Accommodation and food service activities (I) | 52.3 | 0.8 | -2.7 | -3.0 | 58.0 | 0.60 | -3.0 | -2.7 |
| Information and communication (JZ) | 34.2 | 5.8 | 2.3 | 2.1 | 53.2 | 2.80 | -4.6 | -6.0 |
| Real estate activities (LZ) (**) | 555.0 | 3.8 | 3.5 | 3.9 | 609.7 | 3.50 | 3.3 | 3.7 |
| Advisory and Business support activities (MN) | 104.9 | 6.1 | 10.6 | 10.4 | 134.6 | 7.20 | 12.3 | 11.4 |
|
Education, human health and social work services, Arts, entertainment and recreation, Other service activities (PS) |
62.2 | 0.9 | -2.1 | -1.6 | 68.9 | 2.50 | -7.7 | -5.9 |
| Holdings | 19.9 | -0.9 | 21.2 | 20.8 | 24.3 | 0.00 | 25.2 | 25.1 |
Download the PDF version of the document
EN_Stat_Info_Financing_of_firms_202502.pdf
Updated on the 9th of April 2025