Estonia, along with Latvia and Lithuania, continues to have the highest loan interest rates in the eurozone, surpassing the average for that region by several percentage points.
European Central Bank (ECB) statistics showed that the average interest rate on newly issued home loans in the eurozone stood at 4.1% as of the end of November 2023.
By comparison, the average within the three Baltic States at that time stood at 5.9%, whereas in Finland the average was 4.4%, and in Sweden (4.8%).
The picture is much the same when it comes to consumer loans. According to ECB figures, the interest rate on new consumer loans stood at 7.9% on average in the eurozone as of the end of November 2023.
Latvia’s figure was nearly double this, at 14%, while Estonia had the second-highest rates on consumer loans on average, at 13.1%. Lithuania lay in the fourth place (9.7%), behind Greece (11.6%).
The average interest rate on newly issued consumer loans in Finland at the end of November 2023 was 7.7%, while in Sweden the figure was 8.9%.
The Baltic States also provide the costliest corporate loans in the eurozone. While the average interest rate on new loans granted to companies in the eurozone at the end of November 2023 was 5.2%, in Estonia and Lithuania the figure was 6.5% and in Latvia 6.8%.
Once again, this is significantly more than the interest rate on average asked of Finnish companies when they take out loans (5.3%) or, again, in Sweden (5.6%). (ERR/Business World Magazine)