Consumer Protection Code How are you protected when using regulated financial services?

Central Bank homepage
cropped image

Retail Interest Rates - March 2026

Interest rates and new business volumes are collected from credit institutions with significant levels of lending or deposit business with households or non-financial corporations. These harmonised statistics are used for the analysis of monetary developments, and the monetary transmission mechanism as well as for the monitoring of financial stability. Monthly interest rate statistics cover all euro-denominated agreements with euro-area households and NFCs, while quarterly interest rate statistics cover mortgage drawdowns in the Republic of Ireland, broken down by interest rate type.

Table 1: Retail Interest Rates Key Statistics

Data as of March 2026
Interest rate statistics table showing loan and deposit rates for Ireland and Euro Area. The table has two main sections: Loans and Deposits. Positive changes are shown with a plus sign in green. Negative changes are shown with a minus sign in red. Use arrow keys to navigate between cells.

Source: Retail Interest Rates Table B.1.1, Table B.2.1, ECB Data Portal

Household Lending Interest Rates

  • The weighted average interest rate on new Irish mortgage agreements1 at end-March 2026 was 3.52 per cent, up 1 basis point from February and down 25 basis points annually. The equivalent euro area average was 3.40 per cent (Table 1). The weighted average rate in Ireland exceeded the euro area average by 12 basis points. New mortgage rates in Ireland were the 7th highest in the euro area, two positions down from the same month last year.

The weighted average interest rate on new Irish mortgage agreements was 3.52% in March, 7th highest in the euro area.

Chart 1: Rank of weighted average interest rate on new mortgage agreements by euro area country

Source: ECB Data Portal

  • The weighted average interest rate on new fixed rate mortgage agreements, which constitute 90 per cent of the volume of new mortgage agreements (77 per cent in March 2025), was 3.46 per cent in March, unchanged from the previous month and down 12 basis points from March 2025.
  • The weighted average interest rate on new variable rate mortgage agreements was 4.05 per cent in March, 4 basis points down from February and 37 basis points lower in annual terms.
  • The total volume of pure new mortgage agreements increased to €932 million in March, €28 million or 3 per cent higher annually (Chart 2).
  • Renegotiated mortgages totalled €508 million in March 2026, up €24 million from February and €217 million higher than March 2025. This represents the highest volume of renegotiations since November 2022. In March 2026, fixed rate mortgages constituted 89 per cent of renegotiated mortgages and the weighted average interest rate on renegotiated fixed rate mortgages was 3.26 per cent, a decrease of 2 basis points from the previous month and a decrease of 20 basis points from the same month last year.

In March 2026, the volume of new Irish mortgages increased by 18 per cent compared to February 2026.

Chart 2: Weighted average interest rate and volume, pure new mortgage lending

Source: Retail Interest Rates Table B.2.1

  • The weighted average interest rate on new consumer loan agreements increased by 9 basis points to 6.98 per cent in March 2026. The total volume of new consumer loans was €324 million in March, 65 per cent of which had a floating rate. New floating rate consumer loans had a weighted average interest rate of 7.93 per cent at end-March, while new fixed rate consumer loans had a weighted average interest rate of 5.22 per cent.

Non-Financial Corporation Lending Interest Rates

  • New NFC loan agreements increased to €2.5 billion in March 2026, a monthly increase of 129 per cent and a yearly increase of 67 per cent. The associated weighted average interest rate was 5.09 per cent in March 2026, up 39 basis points from February and down 84 basis points annually. The equivalent rate in the euro area increased to 3.51 per cent in March 2026.
  • The volume of new NFC loans with value over €1 million, which in March accounted for 88 per cent of the volume of all new NFC loans, increased to €2.2 billion, up 164 per cent from February. The weighted average interest rate on this instrument category was 5.08 per cent in March (Chart 3). This reflects a monthly increase of 58 basis points and a yearly decrease of 103 basis points.

In March 2026, the weighted average interest rate on new NFC loans with value over €1 million decreased 103 basis points compared to the same period last year.

Chart 3: Weighted average interest rates by loan size, new lending to NFCs

Source: Retail Interest Rates Table B.2.1

Household and Non-Financial Corporation Deposit Rates

  • The weighted average interest rate on household overnight deposits was unchanged from the previous month at 0.14 per cent in March 2026. The weighted average interest rate on new household deposits with agreed maturity increased to 1.85 per cent in March, a 1 basis point increase from 1.84 per cent in February 2026 and a 41 basis point decrease annually (Chart 4). The level of new business in this category was €1.7 billion, 13 per cent higher than in February and 36 per cent higher than in March 2025.
  • In March 2026, the volume of new household term deposits reached its second-highest level since February 2021, €8 million below the peak recorded in October 2025.

In March 2026, the weighted average interest rate on Irish household term deposits was 1 basis point lower than the euro average.

Chart 4: Rank of country and euro area average interest rates, new household deposits with agreed maturity

Source: Retail Interest Rates Table B.2.1 and ECB Data Portal

  • The weighted average interest rate on new household term deposits in the euro area increased to 1.86 per cent, 3 basis points up from the previous month and 24 basis points lower than in March 2025 (Chart 4). In March 2026, the euro area weighted average term deposit rate exceeded the Irish weighted average by 1 basis point, the first time the euro area average has exceeded the Irish average since April 2025. The Irish rate was 11th highest in the euro area at end-March.

In March 2026, the volume of new household term deposits was €1.7 billion, 36 per cent higher than in March 2025.

Chart 5: Weighted average interest rate and volume, new household deposits with agreed maturity

Source: Retail Interest Rates Table B.2.1

  • The weighted average interest rate on NFC overnight deposits was 0.09 per cent at end-March, unchanged from February, while the weighted average interest rate on new Irish NFC deposits with agreed maturity was 1.69, 8 basis points higher than in February.

Interest Rates on Outstanding Mortgage Loans Held in Non-bank Entities

The monthly Retail Interest Rate Statistics are compiled using data collected from a sample of Irish resident credit institutions only, in accordance with the relevant ECB Regulation. The Central Bank recently conducted a 14th data collection exercise from non-bank entities relating to their outstanding stock of Primary Dwelling Home (PDH) mortgage loans and the weighted average interest rates applied to these loans. The data were reported with reference to end-March 2026, and are shown in Table A below. As is the case with all interest rates reported in the Retail Interest Rate Statistics, weighted averages can mask the underlying distribution of interest rates among the population of loans in each category. The Central Bank publishes a Frontier Statistics series exploring the Interest Rate Distributions within the Bank and Non-Bank Sector.

Table A: Total Irish PDH Mortgage Lending by Non-Banks, as at end-March 2026

Data as of end Q1 2026
Non-Bank Interest Rate Statistics table showing interest rates and lending volumes for outstanding Irish residential mortgages by non-bank lenders. The table compares non-bank and bank interest rates across different rate types. Outstanding amounts are shown in thousands of euros. Quarter-on-quarter changes in basis points are shown with a plus sign in green for increases and a minus sign in red for decreases. Use arrow keys to navigate between cells.

  • The cohort of non-bank entities can be further disaggregated into those that are initiating new mortgage loans and those that hold mortgage loans but are not actively lending. The weighted average interest rate on all outstanding mortgage loans for the “lending non-banks” was 3.66 per cent (3.64 per cent in Q4), and for the “non-lending non-banks” it was 3.85 per cent, at end-March 2026 (3.86 per cent in Q4).

  • The weighted average interest rate on variable rate mortgages for the “lending non-banks” was 4.19 per cent (4.18 per cent in Q4), and for the “non-lending non-banks” was 5.21 per cent, at end-March 2026 (5.26 per cent in Q4).

  • Among the non-bank entities, 39 per cent of all PDH mortgage loan accounts were on a variable rate at end-March 2026 (39 per cent in Q4), 32 per cent on a tracker rate (32 per cent in Q4), and 30 per cent on a fixed rate (29 per cent in Q4) . Fixed rate mortgages account for 61 per cent of mortgages among the “lending non-banks” (59 per cent in Q4), while variable and tracker rates dominate among the “non-lending non-banks”, with a share of 44 per cent and 44 percent each respectively (variable 43 and tracker 45 per cent in Q4).

  • “Non-Lending non-banks” account for €9.72 billion of outstanding PDH mortgage lending and 67,459 accounts (64%), while “lending non-banks” account for €7.45 billion and 37,467 accounts (36%).

Note 1

Interest rates and new business volumes are collected from credit institutions with a significant level of lending or deposit business with households or non-financial corporations (NFCs). The sample is monitored to ensure compliance with ECB Regulation.

Monthly Retail Interest Rate Statistics in Tables B.1.1 to B.2.2 cover all euro-denominated lending to, and deposits from, households and NFCs in the euro area. New business is defined as any new agreement during the month between the customer and the credit institution. This agreement covers all financial contracts that specify the interest rate for the first time, including any renegotiation of existing business (excluding automatic renewals). These statistics are compiled under ECB Regulation and are comparable across the euro area.

Quarterly Retail Interest Rate Statistics in Table B.3.1 cover all euro and non-euro denominated mortgage lending in the Republic of Ireland only. New business refers to new mortgage lending drawdowns during the quarter, broken down by type of interest rate (i.e. fixed, tracker and SVR). These statistics are not compiled under ECB MFI interest rate Regulation.

Note 2

There are a number of factors that can lead to differences between Retail Interest Rate statistics and interest rates advertised by resident credit institutions. These include renegotiated loans, the inclusion of home improvement loans, and the underlying statistical compilation methodology.

Note 3

The retail interest rate statistics are compiled using a sampling method as outlined in the relevant ECB Regulation and Guideline. The sampling methodology is refined and enhanced over time to maintain alignment with relevant international standards and maintain a quality sampling approach. In such situations, revised methodology will be applied to historic data to ensure a consistent and coherent compilation of data across time and to allow for time series analysis. The period of revisions will be determined by the impact, feasibility and cost of undertaking the revision. Occasions when methodological revision have occurred are:

Enhancements to the calculation of the national weighted average interest rates and national total business volumes have been introduced in ECB Guideline (ECB/2014/15) on monetary and financial statistics. These enhancements introduced in the Guideline involve changes to the sampling methods. The changes made contribute to a further harmonization of the data compilation process thus improving cross-country data comparison. The changes apply for reference period December 2014. As a result of these enhancements, data have been recalculated, as per the requirements of Guideline ECB/2014/15, for previous reference periods.

Changes applied to reduce the maximum grossing factor used in estimating total population data. The changes reduce the potential volatility caused by irregular high grossing factors. The impact of the change is largely confined to new business loans to NFCs, with some minor changes to new business consumer loans. The changes apply from reference period April 2021. Data for previous reporting periods have been recalculated back to February 2019. Recent data is often provisional and may be subject to revision.

For further detail, please see the Retail Interest Rates webpage for:

Note 4

Statistical classification of sole proprietors

In line with their treatment in ESA 2010, the Central Bank has harmonised the treatment of sole proprietors as reported by reporting agents across various datasets. This has resulted in a movement of loans and deposits from the NFC to the Household sector. These amendments were made in February 2022 with respect to reference data from February 2021.

Specifically, these changes result in an increase in loan and deposit volume amounts reported vis-à-vis the household sector, and a decline in balances reported vis-à-vis the NFC sector. This applies to both outstanding and new lending volumes in Tables B.1.2 and Table B.2.1. For lending rates, this change means that both the aggregate interest rates on NFC loan agreements and on non-mortgage household loans has slightly reduced. The reason for this is that, in general, loans to sole proprietors typically attract a higher average interest rate than NFC loans, and therefore excluding them from the NFC category results in a slight reduction in the aggregated NFC interest rate.

Additionally, the interest rate on loans to sole proprietors is typically lower than the average interest rate on non-mortgage household loans, and therefore including them results in a reduction in the aggregated interest rate on household loans ‘for other purposes’ in Table B.2.1, and on household ‘consumer loans and other loans’ in Table B.1.2.

Treatment of securitised loans

As a result of an update to the ECB Regulation on the balance sheet items of credit institutions and of the monetary financial institutions sector (recast) (ECB/2021/2), there have been changes to how certain securitised loans are required to be classified for the purposes of statistical reporting. The following treatment, allowed under the previous Regulation ECB/2013/33, is no longer permitted: ‘MFIs […] may be allowed by their NCB to exclude from the stocks […] any loans disposed of by means of a securitisation in accordance with national practice […]’. The removal of this derogation from the updated Regulation ECB/2021/2 results in an increase in the reported volume of outstanding house purchase loans in Table B.1.2.

 

 

    1. Mortgage rates and volumes quoted on this page exclude renegotiations unless otherwise stated.↩︎

Related Data Sets

The below Retail Interest Rate tables are also available on the Central Bank of Ireland's Open Data Portal.

Table B.1.1 Retail Interest Rates – Deposits, Outstanding Amounts | xls 443 KB Table B.1.2 Retail Interest Rates - Loans, Outstanding Amounts | xls 311 KB Table B.2.1 Retail Interest Rates and Volumes - Loans and Deposits, New Business | xlsx 114 KB Table B.2.2 Retail Interest Rates and Volumes - Renegotiated Loans | xls 214 KB Table B.3 Official and Selected Interest Rates | xls 97 KB Table B.3.1 Retail Interest Rates - Mortgage Rates | xlsx 59 KB Retail Interest Rate Statistics Explanatory Notes | pdf 191 KB

Explore Retail Interest Rates in Open Data Format