France Corporate Loan Interest Rate: Monthly Data Since 2003

The France corporate loan interest rate is the Banque de France measure of the average annual rate on new loans to non-financial corporations, monthly since January 2003 — 280 observations. It comes from the MIR statistical framework, the harmonised euro area collection on monetary financial institution interest rates, and it is the rate actually contracted rather than a posted or advertised rate. French firms are roughly 70% bank-financed, against about 30% in the United States, which makes this series the most direct available reading of the cost of capital for the French corporate sector.

Dataset: France Corporate Loan Interest Rate (2003–2026) · Updated 2026-04-01

Source: Banque de France (Webstat, MIR1) · new loans to non-financial corporations · Licence Ouverte 2.0

Macro Takeaway

Dataset Overview

Dataset Variables

The CSV, Excel and JSON files contain the following columns.

Column names match the CSV headers exactly.

Download the Complete Dataset

The full France corporate loan rate series is available in CSV and Excel formats.

Direct Data Access

The Banque de France publishes the series through its Webstat portal and API, which requires a free registration. The Eco3min structured dataset returns it without authentication:

Direct CSV Access — Eco3min Structured Dataset

https://eco3min.fr/dataset/fr/fr-corporate-loan-rate.csv

This URL returns the complete dataset in CSV format. It can be used directly in pandas, R, curl, or any data tool. JSON and XLSX are available at the same path with the corresponding extension.

Using the Dataset in Python

import pandas as pd

url = "https://eco3min.fr/dataset/fr/fr-corporate-loan-rate.csv"
df = pd.read_csv(url, parse_dates=["date"])

print(df.head())
print(df["corporate_loan_rate"].describe())

Using the Dataset in R

library(readr)

url <- "https://eco3min.fr/dataset/fr/fr-corporate-loan-rate.csv"
df <- read_csv(url)

head(df)
summary(df$corporate_loan_rate)

Both examples load the dataset directly from the URL — no download or API key required.

Methodology

The series is retrieved daily by an Eco3min pipeline from the Banque de France MIR1 dataset. The Banque de France publishes with roughly a five to six week lag, so the series ends two months rather than one behind the current date.

The rate covers all loan sizes combined. Two companion series break it down by amount, below and above one million euros, and their difference is published separately as the SME borrowing premium. As with all MIR rates, the measure is narrowly defined: it excludes arrangement fees, guarantee costs and any covenant pricing, so it sits below the all-in cost a borrower actually bears.

Historical Regimes

• 2003–2008 — the pre-crisis normal. From 4.27% to a series high of 5.63% in September 2008. The rate tracked the ECB tightening cycle almost point for point.
• 2009–2014 — the descent. The rate fell steadily as the ECB cut, with a visible pause during the 2011–2012 sovereign crisis when French bank funding costs rose against policy rates.
• 2015–2019 — below 2%. From 1.813% in January 2015, the rate never left the 1.2% to 1.8% band. Asset purchases and negative deposit rates passed through to corporate credit almost fully.
• 2020–2021 — the guaranteed-loan floor. The series low of 0.75% in May 2020 coincides with the state-guaranteed loan scheme, which mechanically pulled the average down. The rate was still 1.388% in September 2021.
• 2022–2023 — the fastest repricing in the series. From 1.261% to 4.80% in twenty-two months. No previous episode moved the corporate cost of capital this far this fast.
• 2024–2026 — partial retreat. Down to 4.18% by December 2024 and 3.58% by April 2026. The rate has given back roughly half the increase and stalled above its long-run average.

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Macroeconomic Dataset Hub

This dataset is part of the Eco3min macro-financial data repository.

Explore the Eco3min Dataset Hub

Sources

• Banque de France — Webstat, MIR1 dataset (monetary financial institution interest rates), new loans to non-financial corporations, France.
• Licence: Licence Ouverte / Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab). Commercial reuse and redistribution permitted with attribution.

Dataset Reference

Eco3min Research. (2026). France Corporate Loan Interest Rate (2003–2026). Source: Banque de France.<br> https://eco3min.fr/en/france-corporate-loan-rate-dataset/