Total lending for the Spanish banking system 2005-2023, by type

The average balance of assets in form of credit in the Spanish banking system was lower in 2023 than in the previous year. The highest total value of lending in the Spanish banking system was registered in 2008, at roughly 2.4 trillion euros. In June 2023, Unicaja was the major Spanish bank with the highest non-performing loan ratio.

Better lending practices

In response to the economic crisis, stricter financial regulations were implemented in EU countries and the household debt in Spain declined to more sustainable levels. These and other factors resulted in healthier performances within the Spanish banking sector and its lending practices, as several indicators demonstrate. The loan-to-deposit ratio (LTD), which measures the liquidity of a bank through the ratio of the funds it has in its deposits to the volume of loans granted to customers, fell from 150 percent in 2011 to roughly 101 percent in 2023. In addition, the non-performing loans (NPL) to total gross loans ratio has also fallen significantly from 2013 to 2022.

A country of homeowners

The remarkable weight of house loans within the lending market derives from the fact that, traditionally, Spain has been a country of homeowners; as of 2019, the home ownership rate was roughly 76 percent. Furthermore, over a fourth of Spanish households own their property with a mortgage or outstanding loans. Nevertheless, the number of house loans have remained relatively low in the past decade in comparison to the years of the housing bubble.