Central Bank of Ireland publishes new Frontier Statistics series - highlights new data on total domestic credit and mortgage rates

The Central Bank of Ireland today (9 December) published the first in a new series of Frontier Statistics. Built for a data-driven world, the new Frontier Statistics web Frontier Statistics web resource web resource makes more of our data available to the public and in a particularly accessible format.

Our first new publication under the Frontier Statistics series looks at a new measure of total credit in the domestic economy. Currently, official statistics published by the Central Bank typically only cover loans granted by banks and credit unions. Using granular data sourced from the Central Credit Register, we have been able to compile a broader measure that includes credit granted by a range of credit providers to give a more complete picture of loans in the domestic economy.

Selected new insights:

• Total credit amounts to €219bn within the domestic economy.
• Banks are the largest providers of domestic loans to individuals. The majority of this relates to mortgage lending.
• Non-banks, though, play an important role in the provision of business loans, including to individuals, and are the main providers of some specific loan types.
• Credit unions are the largest providers of personal loans to individuals.

The second publication under the Frontier Statistics series looks at the distribution of mortgage interest rates. Our existing aggregate statistics provide a monthly snapshot of average interest rates on Irish mortgage loans, but they do not cover the underlying distribution of interest rates among Irish borrowers – for example, what percentage of borrowers are on a particularly high or low interest rate.

Selected new insights:

• Non-lending non-banks had the highest median interest rate, at 5.5% as of end-June 2024, but also held a higher share of mortgage loans with low rates.
• The median interest rate on bank-held mortgages at end-June 2024 was 3.95%
• The median interest rate on mortgages held by lending non-banks was 2.85%
• The median interest rate on mortgages was higher in June 2024 than it was one year prior, for all three institution types.

Speaking on the launch, Deputy Governor Vasileios Madouros said:  "At the Central Bank of Ireland, we believe that access to high-quality data is a force for the public good. We also understand that data is more valuable when it is accessible, usable, and engaging.  Our new Frontier Statistics series aims to make more of our data broadly available, while ensuring that the insights are clear and compelling to the user. We look forward to making more of our data accessible to the public through this new platform."

ENDS