Bank of Finland reports household loan rates rose to 3.40% while fixed rate housing lending increased

The Bank of Finland published May money and banking statistics showing that higher market rates continued to feed through to Finnish households’ borrowing costs. The average interest rate on households’ bank loan stock rose to 3.40% at the end of May, its highest level since July 2025, reflecting both higher rates on new lending and interest rate resets on existing variable-rate loans. Household borrowing remained heavily exposed to floating rates, with 89% of bank loans and 95% of housing loans linked to Euribor, although fixed-rate housing lending increased earlier in the year. Households had EUR 140.6 billion in bank loans at the end of May, including EUR 105.5 billion in housing loans, whose annual growth rate was minus 0.1%. The average interest rate on new household loan drawdowns was 3.91%, up 0.37 percentage points from a year earlier. New housing loans totaled EUR 1.2 billion in May and carried an average rate of 3.17%. Fixed-rate housing loans accounted for almost 6% of new housing loan drawdowns in January to May, the highest share for that period since 2013, and the average rate on new fixed-rate housing loans rose to 3.64% in May. Household deposits stood at EUR 118.0 billion, with an average deposit rate of 0.82%, while new deposits with an agreed maturity averaged 2.48%. The next statistical release on money and banking statistics is scheduled for 28 July 2026.