More than 140,000 personal loans worth €1.4 billion drawn down in 2021

Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) has today published the BPFI Personal Loans Report for Q4 2021. The new report, which will be issued on a quarterly basis, details the volume, values and uses of personal loans drawn down from participating BPFI member banks.

The following are the key figures:

Total loans

• A total of 39,803 personal loans were drawn down in Q4 2021 valued at €344 million representing an increase of 34.6% in volume and 20.1% in value year on year.
• Looking at 2021 as a whole more than 140,000 personal loans were drawn down in 2021, 12.2% more than in 2020. The value of drawdowns rose by 13.5% to almost €1.4 billion.
• The average personal loan fell to €8,652, the lowest level since the data series began in 2020.

Car loans

• A total of 10,201 car loans were drawn down in the fourth quarter of 2021 worth €116 million with volume rising by 10.4% year on year and values rising by 3.9% over the same period.
• In total during 2021 almost 45,000 car or auto loans were drawn down valued at €488 million. The volume and value of car loans increased by 5.4% and 7.4% respectively.
• The average car loan stood at €10,474 in Q4 2021 down from €11,135 a year earlier.

Home Improvement loans

• In Q4 2021 some 11,906 personal loans worth €116 million were drawn down for home improvements, some 34.9% higher in volume terms and 20.6% higher in value terms than in Q4202
• Over the course of 2021 loans for home improvement were the fastest growing segment, increasing in volume terms by 24.6% to 43,336 and in value terms by 20.4% to €462 million.
• The average home improvement loan was €9,748 in Q4 2021 down from €10,899 on the fourth quarter of 2020.

Commenting on today’s report, Brian Hayes, Chief Executive, BPFI said: “Today’s report is a brand new set of data published by BPFI providing a comprehensive overview of the numbers and types of personal loans which are being drawn down by consumers. For the first time ever these new figures are giving us an insight into the significant scale of personal lending by BPFI members, with current loan volumes equating to 2,756 loans drawn down per week, 864 of which are for car or auto loans and 833 of which are for home improvements. We plan to publish this data on a quarterly basis and expect to see some interesting trends emerging over time. The Covid-19 restrictions had a substantial negative impact on lending activity especially in Q2 2020 but with improving consumer confidence, we expect demand for personal loans to increase in 2022.”

The BPFI Personal Loans Report Q4 2021 and data series are attached above and can be found on the BPFI website here.