Financing of entreprises - 2026-03
Published on 19th of May 2026
Continued growth in loans to non-financial corporations, with lending rates remaining virtually unchanged
- In March 2026, bank lending to non-financial corporations (NFCs) grew by 2.8% year-on-year, up from 2.5% in February. This increase was driven by investment lending (4.7%, after 4.6% in February) and a smaller decline in cash loans (-5.0%, after -6.2% in February). Conversely, growth in debt securities issuance slowed (5.0%, after 6.1% in February). Overall, financing growth to NFCs decreased slightly to 3.6% (after 3.8% in February).
- The average interest rate on new financing increased to 3.68% in March (after 3.44% in February) due to the sharp rise in the cost of issuing debt securities (3.91%, after 3.28% in February) while that of bank loans remained stable (3.56%, after 3.53% in February).
1 - Overview of NFCs : Outstanding amounts and flows in € Bn, annual growth rate and cost in %
(non-seasonally adjusted) ![]()
| Mar- 2026(p) | Annnual growth rate | Cost (annual Interest rate) | |||||||||
| Outstanding
amounts |
Transactions
(cumulative over 12 month) |
New business
(cumulative over 12 month) |
Mar- 2025 | Jan- 2026 | Feb- 2026(r) | Mar- 2026(p) | Mar- 2025 | Jan- 2026 | Feb- 2026(r) | Mar- 2026(p) | |
| NFC's global financing | 2,155.0 | 74.2 | 738.0 | 2.0 | 3.6 | 3.8 | 3.6 | 3.72 | 3.45 | 3.44 | 3.68 |
| Loans | 1,412.7 | 39.1 | 360.6 | 2.3 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.8 | 3.80 | 3.50 | 3.53 | 3.56 |
| Investment | 1,040.4 | 3.5 | 4.4 | 4.6 | 4.7 | ||||||
| equipment | 648.1 | 3.6 | 3.8 | 4.0 | 4.2 | ||||||
| real-estate | 392.3 | 3.2 | 5.4 | 5.5 | 5.7 | ||||||
| Treasury | 291.6 | -1.5 | -5.6 | -6.2 | -5.0 | ||||||
| Other lending | 80.6 | 3.6 | 10.9 | 11.5 | 10.0 | ||||||
| Loans up to €1 million | 125.3 | 3.88 | 3.67 | 3.70 | 3.72 | ||||||
| Loans over €1 million | 235.2 | 3.76 | 3.39 | 3.40 | 3.48 | ||||||
| Securities other than shares | 742.3 | 35.1 | 377.4 | 1.3 | 5.7 | 6.1 | 5.0 | 3.55 | 3.37 | 3.28 | 3.91 |
(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 the end of March 2026, the 12-month growth in outstanding loans increased for all company sizes. It stood at 1.6% for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and companies of undetermined size, at 0.2% for mid-sized companies (ISEs), and at 4.4% for large firms (LFs).
- The cost of new financing rose slightly for all company sizes. It reached 3.51% for SMEs and companies of undetermined size, 3.74% for ISEs, and 3.35% for LFs.
| Outstanding
amounts (in Bn €) |
Outstanding year-on-year growth in % | Cost in % (annual interest rate) |
|||||||
| Mar- 2026(p) | Mar- 2025(r) | Jan- 2026(r) | Feb- 2026(r) | Mar- 2026(p) | Mar- 2025(r) | Jan- 2026(r) | Feb- 2026(r) | Mar- 2026(p) | |
| - SME and unspecified size | 545.7 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 1.6 | 3.75 | 3.47 | 3.48 | 3.51 |
| - ISE | 386.8 | 1.2 | 0.0 | -0.1 | 0.2 | 3.95 | 3.67 | 3.73 | 3.74 |
| - Large firms | 227.8 | 5.9 | 2.1 | 1.7 | 4.4 | 3.67 | 3.25 | 3.28 | 3.35 |
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 %) ![]()
- Growth in outstanding loans varied across business sectors. It remained positive for the advisory and business support activities (+9.1%), real estate activities (+4.8%), transportation and storage (+4.5%), and agriculture, forestry an fishing (+2.4%).
- Outstanding loans kept declining in the education, human health, social work services and services to households (-3.4%), industry (-2.6%), wholesale and retail trade (-2.3%), information and communication ( 1.8%), accommodation and food services (-1.7%), and construction (-0.6%).
Outstanding amounts by sector (€bn)
March 2026
March 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.
4 - Quarterly additional information about loans to NFCs rates
Cost of new loans by purpose ![]()
(en %)
Breakdown of new loans by purpose ![]()
(in % of new business credits excluding overdrafts)
Characteristics of new loans to NFC![]()
| Average rate (en %) | Average maturity (in month) |
Share of loans fixed rate (in %) |
||
| Oct-2025 | Jan-2026 | Jan-2026 | Jan-2026 | |
| Overdrats | 4.55 | 4.71 | ||
| Treasury excluding overdrafts | 3.55 | 3.62 | 28 | 23 |
| Equipment | 3.44 | 3.46 | 114 | 77 |
| Real-estate | 3.35 | 3.49 | 183 | 77 |
| Other investment loans | 4.28 | 4.33 | 58 | 98 |
The survey is conducted among a sample of branches and headquarters of banking institutions operating in metropolitan France. It takes into account new loans granted in the first month of each quarter to non-financial corporations. It is based on the effective rate in the narrow sense (TESE), i.e. the interest component of the overall effective rate (TEG).
Download the PDF version of the document
EN_Stat_info_financing_of_firms_202603.pdf
Updated on the 18th of May 2026