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In the fourth quarter of 2024, Finnish non-financial corporations drew down over EUR 1 billion of new corporate loans from other financial institutions (OFIs). The average interest rate on these loans was 7.4%, as opposed to 8.5% in the same period a year earlier. In the fourth quarter of 2024, the average interest rate on new corporate loans granted by banks (credit institutions) was 4.7 %, as opposed to 5.8% in the same period a year earlier.
More card payments made in October-December than before. In the fourth quarter of 2024, customers made more contactless payments than before and in larger amounts on average than in the corresponding period a year earlier. On average, customers make smaller purchases with contactless payments than with other card payments.
Drawdowns of housing loans in January exceeded the level of the same period in the two previous years, while remaining below the long-term January average. At the same time, the average interest rate on new drawdowns declined considerably year-on-year. In recent years, short-term Euribor and other rates gained popularity as reference rates for housing loans while the level of interest rates rose; however, they have seen reduced use lately as interest rates declined.
Households’ investment fund holdings increased in 2024. Foreign equities held by Finnish households outperformed domestic equities in 2024. Interest rates on deposits with agreed maturity and investment deposits have declined.
In December 2024, the average interest rate on new consumer credit taken out by Finnish households was 6.04%, down 1.46 percentage points from December 2023. The lower interest rates on consumer credit were partly explained by declining Euribor rates in 2024.
In November 2024, the average interest rate on new household loans declined below 4% for the first time in over two years. Just a year ago in November, the average interest rate stood at 5.42%. In November, the average interest rate on new loans to non-financial corporations (excl. housing corporations) was slightly below 5%, as opposed to an average of 6.29% a year earlier. The average interest rate on loans to housing corporations has also declined rapidly. In November 2024, the average interest rate on new loans stood at 3.74%, as opposed to 5.24% just in November last year.
Finnish payment cards were mainly used in contactless payments in July–September 2024 The number of contactless payments is growing rapidly, but contactless payments tend to be small in comparison with other types of card payments.
In the first half of 2024, Finnish payment service providers’ customers made more e-commerce payments with cards and credit transfers than in the same period last year. The online purchases were focused on Finland and the euro area.
Finnish households drew down new housing loans (owner-occupied and buy-to-let mortgages) in October 2024 to a total of EUR 1.4 billion. Drawdowns of new owner-occupied housing loans in October 2024 totalled EUR 1.2 billion, an increase of 21% from October a year earlier. Drawdowns of buy-to-let mortgages amounted to EUR 127 million, up 27% from October 2023. The average interest rate on new housing loan drawdowns stood at 3.44% in October. The interest rates fell for both owner-occupied and buy-to-let mortgages.
At the end of September 2024, households’ investments in domestic investment funds were at their all-time highest level (EUR 37.9 billion). At the end of September, households’ holdings of quoted equities totalled EUR 51.0 billion, representing an increase of 17% year-on-year.
In September 2024, Finnish households concluded a higher number of new agreements on deposits with agreed maturity than a year earlier. New agreements totalled EUR 1.4 billion, an increase of EUR 0.2 billion from September 2023. The interest rates on households’ new agreements on deposits with agreed maturity have declined for three months. In September 2024, the average interest rate was 3.29%.
In August 2024, drawdowns of student loans totalled EUR 165 million – almost the same as in the corresponding month last year. At the beginning of August, the amount of student loan available for drawdown per month was raised by up to 30%. In August 2024, the stock of student loans (EUR 6.3 billion) was the largest ever.
In the first half of 2024, households drew down a comparable amount of vehicle loans as a year earlier. At the same time, households drew down less unsecured consumer credit than before. The group of OFIs monitored by the Bank of Finland has contracted in 2024.
The aggregate value of contactless payments made in the second quarter of 2024 was EUR 6.8 billion, 18% more than in the corresponding period a year earlier. In the second quarter, a total of 402 million card payments were made using the contactless feature, 10% more than in the second quarter of 2023.
In July 2024, the volume of new housing loans drawn down by Finnish households was moderate at EUR 1.0 billion, which was 4.3% more than in last year’s July and 27.8% less than on average in July 2011–2023. The average interest rate on the new housing loan drawdowns in July was 4.22%.
In the second quarter of 2024, the stock of Finnish households’ deposit stock grew by EUR 1.7 billion in net terms. Despite the growth in the second quarter, the total household deposit stock (EUR 110.8 billion) contracted by 0.1% from a year earlier. At the end of June 2024, the average interest rate on the total deposit stock stood at 1.34%.
In June, the volume of housing loans drawn down for the purchase of holiday homes, i.e., holiday cottage loans, remained low at 11% less than a year earlier. However, the volume of holiday cottage loans drawn down in January–June was almost the same as in the corresponding period last year. Following the rise in interest rates, shorter reference rates have gained popularity also in holiday cottage loans.
Finnish households drew down exceptionally few housing loans in May 2024. New drawdowns amounted to EUR 1.1 billion, which is 8.8% below the total for May 2023. Due to the exceptionally low amount of housing loan drawdowns, the aggregate stock of housing loans contracted in May by 1.0% from a year earlier. Despite the increase in households’ interest payments, the amount of non-performing housing loans has remained low.
There were 1.2 million cash withdrawals at store checkouts in the second half of 2023, an increase of 71% year on year. In the same period, the value of cash withdrawals at store checkouts amounted to EUR 68 million. The value of card payments made in e-commerce in the second half of 2023 totalled EUR 7 billion, an increase of 27% year on year. In the same period, the value of remote card payments using a mobile application (including person-to-person payments) totalled EUR 1.7 billion.
In the first quarter of 2024, a total of 547 million card payments were made using Finnish payment cards, which was 31 million (6%) more than in the same period a year earlier. The aggregate value of card payments declined 7% from the last quarter of 2023 to stand at EUR 16.5 billion.
