Central Bank of Ireland publishes new data on credit union sector

24 February 2017 Press Release
  • Sets out key financial trends for the credit union sector for period 2011 to 2016.
  • At a sectoral level, in 2016 the overall financial position has shown signs of improvement.
  • Challenges remain - Without other changes including development of products and services, credit unions may find it difficult to ensure a sustainable business model into the future.

The Central Bank today (24 February 2017) issued a statistical information release publication on the financial conditions of credit unions. This outlines the financial trends of the credit union sector for the period 2011 to 2016. The report covers a number of areas including: i) Return on Assets, ii) Investments, iii) Loans, iv) Arrears & v) Capital.

The primary focus of this publication is to assist credit unions in analysing the performance of their credit union relative to peer groups and to provide insights to credit unions on key financial trends that we see based on our analysis of the data submitted to us by credit unions.

Key financial trends observed in the Credit Union Sector

  • Sector assets have increased by €2bn over the period 2011 – 2016 from €14bn to €16bn.
  • During this period 2011 – 2016, the average sector loan to asset ratio has decreased from 42 per cent to 27 per cent while the average sector investment to asset ratio has increased from 55 per cent to 69 per cent.
  • Average sector return on assets has fallen from 2.3 per cent in 2012 to 1.2 per cent in 2016.
  • Credit quality has improved with sector average arrears down from 18 per cent of total loans in 2011 to 10 per cent in 2016 - however there are considerable variations among credit unions and later stage arrears remain a concern.
  • The ability of credit unions to withstand additional financial stress, as measured by total capital, is reasonably strong with the average sector capital ratio at September 2016 standing at 16 per cent.

Read the publication (PDF 1.01MB).

Any queries in relation to the publication should be directed to [email protected].