Loans by size of firms 2021May
Published on 8 July 2021
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Continued strong growth in outstanding loans to SMEs
- At the end of May 2021, loans mobilized by businesses reach €1,199.9 billion, up +4.7% year-on-year, following a +7.8% increase at the end of April. Over two years, the growth rate is 16.2%.
- Over one year, credit to SMEs is still growing strongly at +11.3% in May 2021, but less so than in April 2021 (+16.3%), as the strong tension at the start of the coronavirus crisis in March 2020 and the granting of state-guaranteed loans (PGEs) faded somewhat in May 2020. As for credit to large companies and ISEs, growth is negative: for LEs -7.7% in May 2021 versus -6.0% in April 2021 and for ISEs -1.0% in May 2021 versus +1.9% in April 2021. This development follows the way these companies used credit after the outbreak of the COVID crisis in 2020: they had drawn heavily on their credit lines as early as March 2020 but temporarily. Compared to May 2019, however, outstanding credit is now 2% higher for LEs, 8.6% higher for ISEs and especially 25.8% higher for SMEs.
- Over one year, growth in outstanding loans is driven in particular by the information and communication sector (+18.4%), accommodation and catering (+14.3%) and consulting and business services (+10.2%). Credit growth is weakest in the trade sector, where it is negative (-4.6%), and in all industries (+1.7%).
- The rate on new loans up to EUR 1 million increases by 1 basis point to 1.31 % (up from 1.30 % in April). The rate on new loans of more than EUR 1 million decreases by 18 basis point to 1.26 % (down from 1.44 % in April).
Outstanding amounts of loans to resident enterprises by size (*)
(Outstanding amounts in EUR Bn, annual growth rate in %)![]()
| Drawn credits |
||||||
| Number of enterprises (**) | Outstanding amounts |
Annual growth rate | Two-year growth rate | Annual growth rate | Two-year growth rate | |
| May-21 | May-21 | May-21/May-20 | Apr.- 21/Apr.- 20 | May-21/May-19 | Apr.-21/Apr.-19 | |
| SME | 1,318,233 | 530.7 | 11.3 | 16.3 | 25.8 | 26.4 |
| ISE | 6,145 | 299.6 | -1.0 | 1.9 | 8.6 | 9.1 |
| Large Firms | 293 | 166.6 | -7.7 | -6.0 | 2.0 | 3.5 |
| Total (exc. non-trading real estate companies and others) |
1,324,671 | 996.8 | 3.9 | 7.5 | 15.8 | 16.5 |
| non-trading real estate companies and others (see Additional) | 638,128 | 203.1 | 9.1 | 9.2 | 18.1 | 18.1 |
| All enterprises | 1,962,799 | 1,199.9 | 4.7 | 7.8 | 16.2 | 16.8 |
(*) 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 | Two-year growth rates | Outstanding amounts | Annual growth rates | Two-year growth rates | |
| May-21 | May-21/May-20 | May-21/May-19 | May-21 | May-21/May-20 | May-21/May-19 | |
| Agriculture, forestry and fishing (AZ) | 58.7 | 5.4 | 9.1 | 66.9 | 4.8 | 9.1 |
| Industry (BE) | 149.5 | 1.7 | 11.0 | 250.1 | -0.9 | 12.7 |
| - inc. Manufacturing (C) | 116.8 | 3.3 | 12.7 | 187.7 | -2.5 | 11.7 |
| Construction (FZ) | 67.5 | 6.0 | 20.0 | 102.8 | 4.7 | 18.7 |
| Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (G) | 167.5 | -4.6 | 12.2 | 238.4 | -1.0 | 13.9 |
| Transportation and storage (H) | 43.6 | 3.9 | 18.5 | 55.2 | -2.3 | 16.3 |
| Accommodation and food service activities (I) | 46.7 | 14.3 | 40.4 | 51.1 | 11.8 | 35.4 |
| Information and communication (JZ) | 25.1 | 18.4 | 35.3 | 46.0 | 7.0 | 23.0 |
| Real estate activities (LZ) | 475.3 | 5.7 | 12.8 | 521.6 | 6.4 | 13.0 |
| Advisory and Business support activities (MN) | 80.2 | 10.2 | 31.8 | 101.7 | 9.3 | 29.4 |
Education, human health and social work services, Arts, entertainment and recreation, Other service activities (P to S) |
60.3 | 5.4 | 15.9 | 72.1 | 9.9 | 20.1 |
| Holdings | 25.5 | 26.0 | 56.5 | 30.7 | 31.3 | 67.3 |
| Total | 1,199.9 | 4.7 | 16.2 | 1,536.5 | 4.3 | 16.4 |
Interest rates on new loans to non-financial corporations (exc. overdraft)
(Effective interest rates in the narrow sense, in percentages)![]()
| May-2020 | Dec- 2020 | Jan- 2021 | Feb- 2021 | Mar-2021 | Apr- 2021(a) | May-2021(b) | |
| - loans < or = 1 million euros | 0.62 | 1.28 | 1.28 | 1.27 | 1.32 | 1.30 | 1.31 |
| - loans > 1 million euros | 0.86 | 1.22 | 1.25 | 1.25 | 1.38 | 1.44 | 1.26 |
(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).
Download the PDF version of the document
CRE_TAI_ENT_2237_en__SI_Credits_taille_entreprises_202105_EN.pdf
Updated on 8 July 2021