The number of green personal loans jumped by over 90% (92.4%) in 2023 as customers drew down almost 4,300 loans worth €95 million in 2023, according to the Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) Personal Loans Report for Q4 2023. In the past two years, nearly 6,500 green personal loans valued at €139 million were drawn down.
Looking at the latest trends:
- There were 43,954 personal loan drawdowns in Q4 2023, valued at €443 million. While the fourth quarter has traditionally been the weakest quarter in recent years, personal loan drawdown activity rose in volume terms by 4.2% year on year and by 12.3% in value terms over the same period.
- The number of car or auto finance loans rose by 7.2% year on year to 11,800 in Q4 2023, while the value of loans increased by 16.4% to €147 million.
- There were 12,283 home improvement loans in Q4 2023, virtually unchanged from Q4 2022. These were valued at €139 million, 9.4% higher than a year earlier.
- In annual terms, car or auto finance loan volume grew by 24.3% to 57,789 in 2023, while home improvement loan volumes increased by 16.8% to 56,463.
- The value of loans for other purposes, including education, holidays and special occasions such as weddings rose by 11.3% year on year to €157 million. Other loans volumes rose by 5.3% year on year to 19,871.
- The value of green personal loans increased by 56.3% year on year to €19 million in Q4 2023. The number of green loans rose by 39.2% over the same period to 892. In annual terms, green loan volumes jumped by 92.4% to 4,266 while the value of green loans more than doubled (up by 115.5%) to €95 million.
- The average green loan was relatively high at €21,608 in Q4 2023, significantly higher than the average for all loans at €10,071.
Commenting on today’s report, Brian Hayes, Chief Executive, BPFI said: “Figures from our latest report show a continued rise year on year in personal lending in the fourth quarter of 2023, bringing the annual total of personal loan drawdowns to almost 203,000 valued at nearly €2 billion. This represents an increase of 17.9% and 23.3% in volume and value terms respectively, compared to 2022. While growth was seen across all categories, it is encouraging to see that strong growth in green personal loans continued into Q4 2023.”
“Almost 6,500 green loans have been issued by BPFI members in the past two years and lenders are well placed to support the rollout of the €500 million Home Energy Upgrade Loan Scheme that was launched last month and will be managed by the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI),” he added. “These loans, in addition to grant support from the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI), should help lower the financial barriers encountered by homeowners who want to make their home more