Interest rates on new loans

The average interest rate on new loans granted to non-financial corporations decreased by 12 basis points (b.p.) from December 2019, to 2.00%. 

Broken down by segment, and in year-on-year terms, the interest rate on operations below €1 million declined by 13 b.p. to 2.29%, and the interest rate on operations above €1 million decreased by 16 b.p. to 1.69% (Chart 1).

In 2020 the volume of new loans granted to non-financial corporations totalled €33.6 billion, corresponding to a €0.8 billion increase from 2019.

In the same period, interest rates on new loans to households continued to show a downward trend.

In December 2020 the average interest rate on new loans to households for house purchase was 0.80%, a 30 b.p. decrease compared to the same period one year earlier, reaching a new historical low for the fifth consecutive month (Chart 2).

The average interest rates on loans for consumption and other purposes were 6.09% (6.55% in December 2019) and 2.97% (3.74% in December 2019) respectively.

In 2020 the volumes of new loans for house purchase, consumption and other purposes totalled €11.4 billion, €4.3 billion and €2.2 billion, in that order (€10.6 billion, €5.3 billion and €2.3 billion, in 2019, respectively) (Chart 3).

Interest rates on new deposits

In December 2020 the average interest rate on new deposits with a maturity of up to one year of non-financial corporations stood at 0.02%, 4 b.p. less than in December 2019 (Chart 4), a new record low for the series. Similarly, the overall volume of new deposits of non-financial corporations amounted to €13.3 billion in 2020 (€15.4 billion in the previous year).

Turning to households, the volume of new operations in 2020 and the average interest rate on new deposits with a maturity of up to one year, as at December 2020, accounted for new record lows. The volume of new operations stood at €43.6 billion, compared to €56.3 billion in 2019. The average interest rate on new deposits with a maturity of up to one year declined by 1 b.p. from the same period a year earlier, to 0.06% (Chart 5).