Financing of entreprises - 2026-04
Published on 15th of June 2026
Financing to non-financial corporations increased by 4.4% year-on-year
- In April 2026, financing to non-financial corporations (NFCs) increased by 4.4% year-on-year (after 3.5% in March), driven by growth in both debt securities (6.4% after 5.0% in March) and bank loans (3.4% after 2.8%). Within the latter, the investment component remained dynamic (+4.6% growth in outstanding loans after +4.7% in March), while the decline in cash loans weakened (-2.3% year-on-year in April, after -5.0% in March) due to positive net monthly flows in March and April (see graph at bottom left).
- The average cost of new financing to non-financial corporations (NFCs) fell slightly in April to 3.64% (after 3.68% in March) due to the decrease of the interest rate on debt securities issues (3.75%, after 3.91% in March), while that of bank loans remained almost stable again (3.58%, after 3.56% in March).
1 - Overview of NFCs : Outstanding amounts and flows in €Bn, annual growth rate and cost in %
(non-seasonally adjusted) ![]()
| Apr-26 (p) | Annual growth rate | Cost (annual Interest rate) | |||||||||
| Outstanding
amounts |
Transactions
(cumulative over 12 month) |
New business
(cumulative over 12 month) |
Apr-25 | Feb-26 | Mar-26 (r) | Apr-26 (p) | Apr-25 | Feb-26 | Mar-26 (r) | Apr-26 (p) | |
| NFC's global financing | 2,174.8 | 92.0 | 755.7 | 1.4 | 3.8 | 3.5 | 4.4 | 3.58 | 3.44 | 3.68 | 3.64 |
| Loans | 1,422.5 | 46.3 | 364.8 | 2.3 | 2.5 | 2.8 | 3.4 | 3.68 | 3.53 | 3.56 | 3.58 |
| Investment | 1,045.4 | 3.8 | 4.6 | 4.7 | 4.6 | ||||||
| equipment | 652.2 | 3.8 | 4.0 | 4.1 | 4.2 | ||||||
| real-estate | 393.1 | 3.7 | 5.5 | 5.6 | 5.2 | ||||||
| Cash | 296.0 | -3.0 | -6.2 | -5.0 | -2.3 | ||||||
| Other lending | 81.1 | 4.4 | 11.5 | 10.0 | 9.9 | ||||||
| Loans up to €1 million | 126.0 | 3.85 | 3.70 | 3.73 | 3.76 | ||||||
| Loans over €1 million | 238.7 | 3.58 | 3.40 | 3.48 | 3.48 | ||||||
| Securities other than shares | 752.4 | 45.7 | 390.9 | -0.4 | 6.1 | 5.0 | 6.4 | 3.39 | 3.28 | 3.91 | 3.75 |
(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 April 2026, the 12-month growth in outstanding loans was positive for all company sizes. It stood at 1.8% for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and companies of unspecified size, at 0.4% for mid-sized companies (ISEs), and at 3.9% for large companies (LFs).
- The cost of new bank financing remained relatively stable for SMEs and companies of unspecified size (3.55%, after 3.52% in March), as well as for ISEs (3.75%, after 3.74% in March) and GEs (3.35%, after 3.37% in March).
| Outstanding amounts (in €Bn) |
Outstanding year-on-year growth in % | Cost in % (annual interest rate) |
|||||||
| Apr-26 (p) | Apr-25 | Feb-26 | Mar-26 (r) | Apr-26 (p) | Apr-25 | Feb-26 | Mar-26 (r) | Apr-26 (p) | |
| - SME and unspecified size | 549.6 | 1.5 | 1.7 | 1.8 | 1.8 | 3.66 | 3.48 | 3.52 | 3.55 |
| - ISE | 387.1 | 1.2 | -0.3 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 3.86 | 3.72 | 3.74 | 3.75 |
| - Large firms | 228.7 | 5.8 | 1.7 | 4.4 | 3.9 | 3.43 | 3.30 | 3.37 | 3.35 |
(r): revised data ; (p): provisional data
On the difference between total NFCs and by company size, see method note
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 varied across business sectors. It remained positive for the advisory and business support activities (+10.3%), transportation and storage (+4.9%), real estate activities (+4.8%), and agriculture forestry an fishing (+2.0%). It remained negative in industry (-4.3%, including -6.2% for manufacturing), education, human health, social work services and services to households (-2.8%), wholesale and retail trade (- 2.1%), and accommodation and food services (-1.4%), but became positive in the information and communication (+0.9%, after -1.8% at the end of March 2026) and construction (+0.1%, after -0.5%).
Outstanding amounts by sector (€bn)
April 2026
April 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
For the difference between total firms and total, see methodology note.
(*) including non-trading real estate companies
For the difference between total firms and total, see methodology note.
4 - Quarterly additional information : financing of VSE![]()
Loans to VSEs: breakdown by type of loans![]()
| Outstanding amounts (Billions euros) | Annual growth rate in % | ||
| Q1 2026 | Q4 2025 | Q1 2026 | |
| Loans | 431.5 | 2.1 | 2.5 |
| Cash | 18.8 | -25.5 | -16.6 |
| Equipment | 178.8 | 2.8 | 3.1 |
| Real-estate | 233.9 | 4.5 | 3.9 |
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).
Download the PDF version of the document
EN_Stat_info_financing_of_firms_202604.pdf
Updated on the 15th of June 2026