Delinquency rates in Spanish banks continue to decline and reach their lowest levels since September 2008

The default rate of Spanish banks is at its lowest level since the last great financial crisis and closes October at 2.84%, compared to 2.87% recorded the previous month in which it represents its lowest rate since September 2008, coinciding with the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers. According to data published by the Bank of Spain (BdE), the fall is due to the lower volume of unpaid loans, which fell by 174 millionup to 34,523 million; At the same time, the credit portfolio expanded to 1,215 billion, compared to 1,210 billion at the end of September.

In interannual purchases, the default rate has gone from 3.41% to 2.84% with a cut of 5,643 million in doubtful loans. The favorable evolution of the labor market after exceeding 21.8 million employed people in a context in which Spain grows above the eurozone and the lower interest rates, which remain anchored at 2%, put downward pressure on said rate.

The highest peak in the entire historical series was recorded in August 2014, when delinquencies exceeded 14.2%. Since then, the reduction has been gradual and after a brief ‘impasse’ at the beginning of 2024 in which it experienced an upward reversal, the trend has been disinflationary as the ECB began lowering interest rates.

The organization headed by José Luis Escrivá distinguishes between bank delinquencies, savings banks and credit unionswhich went from 2.78% to 2.75% in October, thanks to the fact that unpaid loans fell by 217 million in a single month, to 31,990 million. In the case of financial companies consumption have rebounded from 5.31% to 5.49%, after unpaid loans grew by 1.43%, up to 2,344 million.

In contrast to the previous year, consumer finance companies have seen how the delinquency of loans granted has gone from 6.68% in October 2024 to 5.49% in the same month of 2025.

The containment of bad debts in an environment of higher interest rates has been key to banking profits reaching historic levels over the last three years. One of the challenges they face in the coming quarters is to keep this rate on a downward path.