Financing of entreprises - 2026-01
Published on 11th of March 2026
Growth in debt securities financing in January 2026
- In January 2026, financing to non-financial corporations (NFCs) rose by 3.6% year-on-year (after 3.2% in December 2025), driven by growth in debt securities (5.7%, after 4.1% in December). The annual growth rate of bank loans fell slightly to 2.5% (after 2.7% in December), due to the acceleration in the decline in outstanding cash loans (-5.6%, after -4.6% in December), despite the strength of the investment component (+4.4% after +4.3%).
- The average interest rate on new financing to non-financial corporations fell slightly to 3.45% in January (after 3.52% in December) due to the decline in the cost of debt securities (3.36%, after 3.49%) and, to a lesser extent, in the cost of new bank loans (3.50% after 3.54%).
1 - Overview of NFCs : Outstanding amounts and flows in €Bn, annual growth rate and cost in %
(non-seasonally adjusted) ![]()
| Jan-26 (p) | Annual growth rate | Cost (annual Interest rate) | |||||||||
| Outstanding
amounts |
Transactions
(cumulative over 12 month) |
New business
(cumulative over 12 month) |
Jan-25 | Nov-25 | Dec-25 (r) | Jan-26 (p) | Jan-25 | Nov-25 | Dec-25 (r) | Jan-26 (p) | |
| NFC's global financing | 2,146.6 | 74.4 | 733.4 | 1.9 | 3.2 | 3.2 | 3.6 | 3.85 | 3.42 | 3.52 | 3.45 |
| Loans | 1,402.6 | 34.4 | 355.4 | 2.3 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.5 | 4.05 | 3.46 | 3.54 | 3.50 |
| Investment | 1,033.9 | 3.6 | 4.0 | 4.3 | 4.4 | ||||||
| equipment | 644.5 | 3.8 | 3.6 | 3.9 | 3.8 | ||||||
| real-estate | 389.4 | 3.2 | 4.7 | 5.1 | 5.4 | ||||||
| Cash | 287.9 | -2.9 | -2.6 | -4.6 | -5.6 | ||||||
| Other lending | 80.7 | 6.9 | 7.4 | 11.5 | 11.0 | ||||||
| Loans up to €1 million | 123.9 | 4.06 | 3.67 | 3.72 | 3.67 | ||||||
| Loans over €1 million | 231.5 | 4.04 | 3.33 | 3.47 | 3.39 | ||||||
| Securities other than shares | 744.0 | 40.0 | 378.0 | 1.1 | 4.3 | 4.1 | 5.7 | 3.46 | 3.36 | 3.49 | 3.36 |
(r): revised data ; (p): provisional data
Monthly changes in outstanding loans by purpose (seasonally adjusted data in €bn) and outstanding annual growth rate (in %)![]()
Cost (all maturities combined) by financing sources (in %) ![]()
2- Bank loans by size of NFC ![]()
- At the end of January 2026, 12-month growth in outstanding loans declined for all sizes of businesses. It stood at 1.1% for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and businesses of indeterminate size, 0.2% for ISEs, and 2.6% for large firms.
- The cost of new financing is down slightly for all sizes of businesses. It stands at 3.47% for SMEs and businesses of indeterminate size, 3.67% for ISEs, and 3.25% for large businesses.
| Outstanding amounts (in €Bn) |
Outstanding year-on-year growth in % | Cost in % (annual interest rate) |
|||||||
| Jan-26 (p) | Jan-25 | Nov-25 | Dec-25 (r) | Jan-26 (p) | Jan-25 | Nov-25 | Dec-25 (r) | Jan-26 (p) | |
| - SME and unspecified size | 541.1 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 1.3 | 1.1 | 3.98 | 3.45 | 3.51 | 3.47 |
| - ISE | 385.4 | 1.6 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 4.17 | 3.64 | 3.71 | 3.67 |
| - Large firms | 223.8 | 3.8 | 4.2 | 3.0 | 2.6 | 3.99 | 3.16 | 3.31 | 3.25 |
(r): revised data ; (p): provisional data
Interest rates (all maturities combined) by enterprise size (in %) ![]()
Outstanding amounts of loans to resident enterprises by size (in €Bn) ![]()
3 - Bank loans by sector (outstanding amounts in €bn, outstanding year-on-year growth in %)
- Growth in outstanding loans varies depending on the sector of activity of the companies concerned. It remains positive for business consulting and services (+5.8%), real estate (+4.7%), transportation and warehousing (+2.8%), and agriculture (+2.3%).
- However, outstanding loans continue to decline in education, health, and social work (-4.1%), trade (-3.1%), manufacturing (-3.1%), information and communication (-3.1%), accommodation and food services (-1.4%), and construction (-0.5%).
Outstanding amounts by sector (€bn)
January 2026
January 2026
Drawn credits year-on-year growth (in %)
Drawn and undrawn credits year-on-year growth (in %)
4 - Quarterly additional information : financing of VSE![]()
Loans to VSEs: breakdown by type of loans![]()
| Outstanding amounts (Billions euros) | Annual growth rate in % | ||
| Q42025 | Q32025 | Q42025 | |
| Loans | 428.6 | 3.9 | 2.1 |
| Cash | 18.3 | -16.3 | -25.5 |
| Equipment | 177.4 | 6.7 | 2.8 |
| Real-estate | 232.9 | 4.3 | 4.5 |
Change in outstanding loans to VSEs ![]()
(in €bn)
Quarterly new loans to VSEs ![]()
(in €bn)
Additional information
In this quarterly additional information, very small enterprises (VSEs) are characterized by the criteria of the 2008 LME Act - companies employing fewer than 20 people and with annual sales or balance sheet total not exceeding 10 million euros - or failing that, by a turnover not exceeding 10 million euros.
Very small businesses, which include microenterprises, form part of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Very small businesses, which include microenterprises, form part of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
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EN_Stat_Info_financing_of_firms_202601.pdf
Updated on the 11th of March 2026