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).
AT Internet - liste domaines
Banque de France
Download the PDF version of the document
EN_Stat_info_financing_of_firms_202603.pdf
Updated on the 18th of May 2026