Financing of entreprises - 2026-02
Published on 9th of April 2026
Financing to non-financial corporations increased again in February
- In February 2026, growth in financing to non-financial corporations (NFCs) reached 3.7% year-on-year, a slight increase compared to the previous month (3.6% in January), driven by debt securities issuance (6.1%, after 5.7% in January). Growth in bank loans remained stable at 2.5%, with significant differences depending on the purpose of the loan: investment loans confirmed their strong performance (4.6%, after 4.4% in January), particularly their real-estate component, whose growth reached its highest level since January 2022 (5.5%), while the decline in outstanding cash loans accelerated (-6.3%, after -5.6% in January).
- The average interest rate on new financing remained stable at 3.45% in February, with the decline in the cost of issuing debt securities (3.28%, after 3.37% in January) offsetting the very slight increase in the cost of bank loans (3.53%, after 3.50% in January).
1 - Overview of NFCs : Outstanding amounts and flows in €Bn, annual growth rate and cost in %
(non-seasonally adjusted) ![]()
| Feb-26(p) | Annual growth rate | Cost (annual Interest rate) | |||||||||
| Outstanding
amounts |
Transactions
(cumulative over 12 month) |
New business
(cumulative over 12 month) |
Feb- 2025 | Dec- 2025 | Jan- 2026(r) | Feb- 2026(p) | Feb- 2025 | Dec- 2025 | Jan- 2026(r) | Feb- 2026(p) | |
| NFC's global financing | 2,146.4 | 77.7 | 731.0 | 1.8 | 3.2 | 3.6 | 3.7 | 3.70 | 3.52 | 3.45 | 3.45 |
| Loans | 1,402.5 | 34.5 | 354.8 | 2.3 | 2.7 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 3.92 | 3.54 | 3.50 | 3.53 |
| Investment | 1,036.5 | 3.4 | 4.3 | 4.4 | 4.6 | ||||||
| equipment | 646.1 | 3.5 | 3.9 | 3.8 | 4.0 | ||||||
| real-estate | 390.4 | 3.2 | 5.1 | 5.4 | 5.5 | ||||||
| Cash | 285.0 | -1.9 | -4.6 | -5.6 | -6.3 | ||||||
| Other lending | 80.9 | 5.2 | 11.5 | 10.9 | 11.5 | ||||||
| Loans up to €1 million | 124.6 | 3.93 | 3.72 | 3.67 | 3.71 | ||||||
| Loans over €1 million | 230.1 | 3.91 | 3.47 | 3.39 | 3.41 | ||||||
| Securities other than shares | 743.9 | 43.2 | 376.3 | 0.9 | 4.1 | 5.7 | 6.1 | 3.27 | 3.49 | 3.37 | 3.28 |
(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 February 2026, the 12-month growth in outstanding loans remained stable at 1.3% for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and companies of unspecified size, while it decreased to 1.7% for large firms and became negative (-0.1%) for mid-sized companies.
- The cost of new financing increased slightly for all company sizes. It reached 3.49% for SMEs and companies of unspecified size, 3.74% for mid-sized companies, and 3.29% for large firms.
| Outstanding
amounts (in €Bn) |
Outstanding year-on-year growth in % | Cost in %
(annual interest rate) |
|||||||
| Feb- 2026(p) | Feb- 2025 | Dec- 2025 | Jan- 2026(r) | Feb- 2026(p) | Feb- 2025 | Dec- 2025 | Jan- 2026(r) | Feb- 2026(p) | |
| - SME and unspecified size | 543.0 | 1.3 | 1.5 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 3.84 | 3.51 | 3.47 | 3.49 |
| - ISE | 385.4 | 1.8 | 0.5 | 0.2 | -0.1 | 4.06 | 3.71 | 3.67 | 3.74 |
| - Large firms | 222.8 | 5.5 | 2.6 | 2.1 | 1.7 | 3.88 | 3.31 | 3.25 | 3.29 |
(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, annual growth rate in %) ![]()
- The growth in outstanding loans varied across business sectors. It remained positive for the advisory and business support activities (+7.4%), real estate activities (+4.7%), transportation and storage (+3.3%), and agriculture, forestry and fishing (+2.3%).
- However, outstanding loans continued to decline in the industry (-4.0%), education, human health, social work and services to housholds (-3.8%), wholesale and retail trade (-3.5%), information and communication (-2.3%), construction (-1.7%), and accommodation and food services (-1.1%).
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 %)
(r): revised data ; (p): provisional data
(*) including non-trading real estate companies
On the difference in calculation method between year-on-year change and annual growth rate, see methodology note
(*) including non-trading real estate companies
On the difference in calculation method between year-on-year change and annual growth rate, see methodology note
Download the PDF version of the document
EN_Stat_Info_financing_of_firms_202602.pdf
Updated on the 9th of April 2026