Household deposits growing at brisk pace

At the end of February 2021, the stock of household deposits totalled EUR 104.7 bn. The majority (EUR 94.5 bn) of the funds in household deposit accounts were in transaction accounts, the stock of which grew by EUR 670 million in February. Deposits with agreed maturity amounted to EUR 3.5 bn, while other deposits placed by households totalled EUR 6.7 bn.

Household deposits have long been growing at an accelerating rate, although the pace slowed slightly in February, with the annual growth rate standing at 9.1%. Deposit growth has long been mainly attributable to increasing deposits in transaction accounts. In February, the annual growth rate of these deposits was 11.4% and that of other deposits was 3.4%. The stock of deposits with agreed maturity contracted in February at an annual rate of -23.1%.

The interest paid on households’ transaction accounts averaged 0.03% in February 2021. The average interest rate on the stock of deposits with agreed maturity has risen since September 2020, to 0.57% in February 2021. This rise has reflected growth in the share of deposits with an agreed maturity of over 1 year. The interest paid on these deposits was higher (0.93% in February) than on deposits with shorter maturities (0.19% in February). Deposits with a maturity of over 1 year include, for example, savings deposits for first-home purchase (ASP deposits), on which banks pay 1% interest.

Loans[1]

Finnish Households’ drawdowns of new housing loans in February 2021 totalled EUR 1.7 bn, up EUR 130 million on the same month last year. At the end of February 2021, the stock of housing loans amounted to EUR 103.2 bn and the annual growth rate of the stock was 3.6%. Of all loans of Finnish households at the end of February, EUR 16.5 bn were consumer credit and EUR 17.4 bn were other loans.

Drawdowns of new corporate loans by Finnish non-financial corporations (excl. overdrafts and credit card credit) in February 2021 totalled EUR 1.5 bn. The average interest rate on these rose from January, to 2.30%. At the end of February, the stock of loans granted to Finnish non-financial corporations totalled EUR 96.7 bn, of which loans to housing corporations accounted for EUR 37.5 bn.

For further information, please contact:

Ville Tolkki, tel. +358 9 183 2420, email: ville.tolkki(at)bof.fi

Anu Karhu, tel. +358 9 183 2228, email: anu.karhu(at)bof.fi

The next news release will be published at 10 a.m. on 3 May 2021.

Related statistical data and graphs are also available on the Bank of Finland website: https://www.suomenpankki.fi/en/Statistics/mfi-balance-sheet/.

[1]Includes loans in all currencies to residents in Finland. The statistical releases of the Bank of Finland up to January 2021, as well as those of the ECB, present loans and deposits in euro to euro area residents and also include non-profit institutions serving households. For these reasons, the figures in this section differ from those in the aforementioned releases.