Loans by size of firms 2021Mar
Published on the 11th of May 2021
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Continued strong credit growth, especially for SMEs, beyond the base effects
- At the end of March 2021, the outstanding amount of drawn credit reached EUR 1,201.3 billion, up + 10.1 % year-on-year, following a + 13.2 % increase at the end of February. This smaller increase reflects a base effect, linked to the sharp rise in outstandings from March 2020 onwards. Compared to March 2019, the two-year increase stands at 17.6%, which is similar to February (compared to February 2019).
- Year-on year, credit growth to SMEs remained strong in March 2021 (+ 20.6 %). But it was weaker for ISEs (+ 3.3 % in March 2021 vs. + 8.7 % between February 2020 and February 2021) and large companies (- 3.6 % versus + 8.7 %). This movement corresponds to a base effect for ISEs and LEs, which drew heavily on their credit lines from March 2020, presumably as a precaution. SMEs mainly use bank credit, whose outstandings only increased significantly from April 2020, fueled by the spread of government-guaranteed loans (PGE).
- The growth of credit is especially driven by the accommodation and food service activities (+ 31.3 %), the advisory and business support activities (+ 21.3 %) and the information and communication (+ 18.5 %). The weakest growth is reported in real estate activities (+ 5.5 %) and agriculture, forestry and fishing (+ 5.5 %).
- Average interest rates on new loans to NFCs increase in March, regardless of the size of the company. The rate on new loans up to EUR 1 million increases by 5 basis point to 1.32 % (up from 1.27 % in February). The rate on new loans of more than EUR 1 million increases by 13 basis point to 1.38 % (up from 1.25 % in February).
Outstanding amounts of loans to resident enterprises by size (*)
(Outstanding amounts in EUR Bn, annual growth rate in %)![]()
| Number of enterprises (**) | Outstanding amounts | Drawn credits annual growth rate |
||
| Mar-2021 | Mar-2021 | Mar-2021/Mar-2020 | Feb- 2021/Feb- 2020 | |
| SME | 1,320,901 | 530.9 | 20.6 | 20.4 |
| ISE | 6,093 | 302.5 | 3.3 | 8.7 |
| Large Firms | 293 | 167.1 | -3.6 | 7.1 |
| Total (exc. non-trading real estate companies and others) |
1,327,287 | 1,000.5 | 10.4 | 14.3 |
| non-trading real estate companies and others (see Additional) | 632,790 | 200.7 | 8.6 | 8.2 |
| All enterprises | 1,960,077 | 1,201.3 | 10.1 | 13.2 |
(*) inc. sole proprietors
(**) LME definition, with loans outstanding amounts above 25000 euros
(**) LME definition, with loans outstanding amounts above 25000 euros
Outstanding amounts of loans to resident enterprises by type of credit and by sector
(Outstanding amounts in EUR Bn, annual growth rate in %)![]()
| Drawn credits | Drawn and undrawn credits | |||
| Outstanding amounts | Annual growth rates | Outstanding amounts | Annual growth rate | |
| Mar-2021 | Mar-2021/Mar-2020 | Mar-2021 | Mar-2021/Mar-2020 | |
| Agriculture, forestry and fishing (AZ) | 58.0 | 5.5 | 66.4 | 5.4 |
| Industry (BE) | 150.8 | 7.3 | 253.8 | 13.5 |
| - inc. Manufacturing (C) | 118.1 | 9.0 | 191.6 | 14.0 |
| Construction (FZ) | 67.9 | 17.1 | 102.7 | 15.5 |
| Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (G) | 173.2 | 10.5 | 247.1 | 12.7 |
| Transportation and storage (H) | 43.4 | 11.6 | 56.4 | 14.0 |
| Accommodation and food service activities (I) | 46.5 | 31.3 | 51.0 | 29.3 |
| Information and communication (JZ) | 27.9 | 18.5 | 49.5 | 7.4 |
| Real estate activities (LZ) | 470.5 | 5.5 | 515.2 | 5.9 |
| Advisory and Business support activities (MN) | 80.4 | 21.3 | 102.0 | 22.5 |
Education, human health and social work services, Arts, entertainment and recreation, Other service activities (P to S) |
57.8 | 14.7 | 67.3 | 19.3 |
| Holdings | 24.9 | 20.9 | 29.5 | 22.2 |
| Total | 1,201.3 | 10.1 | 1,540.9 | 11.6 |
Interest rates on new loans to non-financial corporations (exc. overdraft)
(Effective interest rates in the narrow sense, in percentages)![]()
| Mar-2020 | Oct- 2020 | Nov- 2020 | Dec- 2020 | Jan- 2021 | Feb- 2021 (a) | Mar-2021 (b) | |
| - loans < or = 1 million euros | 1.58 | 1.33 | 1.29 | 1.28 | 1.28 | 1.27 | 1.32 |
| - loans > 1 million euros | 1.18 | 1.30 | 1.30 | 1.22 | 1.25 | 1.25 | 1.38 |
(a) Revised
(b) Provisional
(b) Provisional
Outstanding amounts of credit
(drawn credit, in EUR Bn (*))![]()
(*) see Additional information
Additional information
The outstanding amounts of credit in this publication are those collected by the central credit register, i.e. of a unit amount of more than 25,000 euros. These outstanding amounts include drawn credits, which means those actually used, and the undrawn credits, unused lines of credit. Individual data are grouped according to the size (larges firms, intermediate-sized enterprise - ISE and small and medium-sized enterprise - SME) and the sector of businesses. Businesses that cannot be assigned in a size category according to the criteria of the LME (Loi de Modernisation de l'économie) are included in the category "non-trading real estate companies and others".
Additional data on SMEs, interest rates by size of enterprises, and share of less than 3 year old enterprises (excl. sole proprietors) in the total of enterprises, are available at the following address :
http://webstat.banque-france.fr/fr/browse.do?node=5384417
Outstanding amounts of credit to micro-enterprises (incl. sole proprietors), come from another data collection and are available at the following address: http://webstat.banque-france.fr/fr/browse.do?node=5384934
Non-financial corporations include all enterprises with as main activity the market production of goods and non-financial services, excluding sole proprietors.
Interest rates in this publication are those to new credits distributed by resident credit institutions to French non-financial corporations. The interest rates are effective rates in the narrow sense. They correspond to the interest component of the Annual Percentage Rate (TEG).
Additional data on SMEs, interest rates by size of enterprises, and share of less than 3 year old enterprises (excl. sole proprietors) in the total of enterprises, are available at the following address :
http://webstat.banque-france.fr/fr/browse.do?node=5384417
Outstanding amounts of credit to micro-enterprises (incl. sole proprietors), come from another data collection and are available at the following address: http://webstat.banque-france.fr/fr/browse.do?node=5384934
Non-financial corporations include all enterprises with as main activity the market production of goods and non-financial services, excluding sole proprietors.
Interest rates in this publication are those to new credits distributed by resident credit institutions to French non-financial corporations. The interest rates are effective rates in the narrow sense. They correspond to the interest component of the Annual Percentage Rate (TEG).
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Updated on the 11th of May 2022