Euro area bank lending survey

The euro area bank lending survey (BLS) provides information on bank lending conditions in the euro area. It supplements existing statistics with information on the supply of, and demand for, loans to enterprises and households. The BLS provides input to the assessment of monetary and economic developments carried out by the Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB), which feeds into the monetary policy decision-making process.

The BLS is conducted four times a year. It is usually published in January, April, July and October.

Release calendar

About the survey

The euro area bank lending survey (BLS) was launched by the Eurosystem in 2003. Its main objective is to enhance the Eurosystem’s knowledge of bank lending conditions in the euro area. It provides information on the lending policies of euro area banks and supplements existing statistics on loans and bank lending rates with information on the supply of, and demand for, loans to enterprises and households. The BLS provides input to the Governing Council’s assessment of monetary and economic developments, which feeds into the monetary policy decision-making process.

The BLS is conducted four times a year and addressed to senior loan officers at a representative sample of euro area banks, comprising around 150 institutions representing all euro area countries, and takes into account the characteristics of the respective national banking structures.

• User guide to the euro area bank lending survey, September 2023
• The euro area bank lending survey, Occasional Paper Series, No 179, Sept 2016

Questionnaire and glossary

This glossary defines the most important terminology used in the bank lending survey (BLS) and has been put together to assist respondent banks in filling out the questionnaire.

The BLS contains 22 standard questions on past and expected credit market developments. Past developments cover the previous three-month period, while expected developments focus on the following three-month period. Overall, the BLS includes 18 backward and four forward-looking questions to capture both recent and expected developments. The BLS also includes an open-ended question with space for participating banks to respond.

In addition, it may contain ad hoc questions on specific topics of interest.

The questions are classified according to the two borrower sectors that are the focus of the survey, i.e. enterprises and households. Loans to households are broken down into loans for house purchases, on the one hand, and consumer credit and other lending, on the other. 

• Bank lending survey for the euro area - The questionnaire
• Glossary: Bank lending survey for the euro area

Results by country