EU: central bank interest rates by country 2024

Central bank interest rates increased in every European Union (EU) member state between January 2022 and May 2024, though most countries started to lower their rates towards the end of 2023. The rise in central bank interest rates is not a unique European tendency, as policy rates increased in other advanced and emerging economies as well.

The central bank of Hungary set the key interest rate to 13 percent on the 28th of September, making it the highest central bank interest rate in the EU as of September 2023. Despite regular decreases in the rate after that, Hungary's interest rate remained the highest, at 7.25 percent as of May 2024. With a decrease in May 2024, Sweden had the lowest rate at 3.75 percent.

Why do central bank interest rates increase?
The central bank interest rate, or central bank policy rate, is the rate at which banks borrow from and lend to each other. It is set by central banks and used as a primary tool to maintain stability in a country's financial system. In times of inflation, higher interest rates are a policy response to rising inflation. Higher rates make borrowing more expensive and encourage saving. When debt is more expensive, this in turn can influence consumer demand for goods and services, as well as business investments. This can help slow down inflation when demand exceeds supply. This is why interest rates tend to move in the same direction as inflation, but with a short delay.

Inflation and interest rates in the United States
The monthly inflation rate in the United States started to increase drastically after May 2020, just a few months ahead of the sharp rise in the inflation rate in the EU, and it kept rising until June 2022. Despite rising inflation, the federal funds effective rate in the United States remained relatively low until February 2022. After February 2022, the federal funds effective rate increased sharply.

Central bank interest rates in the European Union from January 2022 to May 2024, by country

Characteristic	Bulgaria	Czechia	Euro area*	Hungary	Poland	Romania	Sweden
May 2024	3.78%	5.25%	4.5%	7.25%	5.75%	7%	3.75%
Apr 2024	3.79%	5.75%	4.5%	7.75%	5.75%	7%	4%
Mar 2024	3.8%	5.75%	4.5%	8.25%	5.75%	7%	4%
Feb 2024	3.79%	6.25%	4.5%	9%	5.75%	7%	4%
Jan 2024	3.79%	6.75%	4.5%	10%	5.75%	7%	4%
Dec 2023	3.8%	6.75%	4.5%	10.75%	5.75%	7%	4%
Nov 2023	3.79%	7%	4.5%	11.5%	5.75%	7%	4%
Oct 2023	3.64%	7%	4.5%	12.25%	5.75%	7%	4%
Sep 2023	3.53%	7%	4.5%	13%	6%	7%	4%
Aug 2023	3.29%	7%	4.25%	13%	6.75%	7%	3.75%
Jul 2023	3.12%	7%	4%	13%	6.75%	7%	3.75%
Jun 2023	2.96%	7%	4%	13%	6.75%	7%	3.5%
May 2023	2.77%	7%	3.75%	13%	6.75%	7%	3.5%
Apr 2023	2.47%	7%	3.5%	13%	6.75%	7%	3%
Mar 2023	2.17%	7%	3.5%	13%	6.75%	7%	3%
Feb 2023	1.82%	7%	3%	13%	6.75%	7%	3%
Jan 2023	1.42%	7%	2.5%	13%	6.75%	7%	2.5%
Dec 2022	1.3%	7%	2.5%	13%	6.75%	6.75%	2.5%
Nov 2022	0.59%	7%	2%	13%	6.75%	6.75%	2.5%
Oct 2022	0.49%	7%	1.25%	13%	6.75%	6.25%	1.75%
Sep 2022	0%	7%	1.25%	13%	6.75%	5.5%	1.75%
Aug 2022	0%	7%	0.5%	11.75%	6.5%	5.5%	0.75%
Jul 2022	0%	7%	0.5%	10.75%	6.5%	4.75%	0.75%
Jun 2022	0%	7%	0%	7.75%	6%	3.75%	0.25%
May 2022	0%	5.75%	0%	5.9%	5.25%	3.75%	0.25%
Apr 2022	0%	5%	0%	5.4%	4.5%	3%	0%
Mar 2022	0%	4.5%	0%	4.4%	3.5%	2.5%	0%
Feb 2022	0%	4.5%	0%	3.4%	2.75%	2.5%	0%
Jan 2022	0%	3.75%	0%	2.9%	2.25%	2%	0%

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Release date

June 2024

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Region

Survey time period

January 2022 to May 2024

Supplementary notes

This statistic was complied by Statista with data gathered from different sources.

Data on different countries can be found on the below links:
Bulgaria
Czechia
Euro Area
Hungary
Poland
Romania
Sweden

*Euro area countries include Belgium, Croatia, Germany, Ireland, Spain, France, italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Finland, Greece, Slovania, Cyprus, Malta, Slovakia, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

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