Euro area firms report tighter bank lending conditions in ECB survey
Businesses reported reduced loan availability, while a major change in the survey sample complicated the interpretation of price and inflation expectations.
Euro area businesses reported further increases in borrowing costs and reduced access to bank loans in the European Central Bank’s latest Survey on the Access to Finance of Enterprises, published on 26 October 2026. A net 46 per cent reported higher bank loan interest rates, against 42 per cent in the preceding quarter.
The share reporting rate increases rose among large firms to a net 55 per cent from 41 per cent. Among small and medium-sized enterprises, it fell to a net 38 per cent from 43 per cent. Other borrowing costs, including fees and commissions, increased for a net 27 per cent of businesses, while a net 14 per cent reported higher collateral requirements.
Loan availability registered a net decline of 5 per cent, compared with 1 per cent previously. Borrowing needs also fell, but by less. The financing gap indicator remained positive at a net 2 per cent, against 3 per cent in the previous quarter. More firms expected access to external finance to worsen over the following three months.
The ECB cautioned that newcomers made up most respondents, complicating interpretation of numerical expectations. Selling-price expectations rose only modestly among repeat participants, whose median inflation expectations were broadly stable. Both measures increased significantly across the full sample.
Fieldwork ran from 26 August to 2 October 2026 and covered 12,822 enterprises. Of these, 11,917, or 93 per cent, employed fewer than 250 people. Around half answered questions about July to September 2026; the others covered April to September 2026.
