Families are saving less and resorting more to loans
In the third quarter of 2025, households had booked €11 billion less than a year earlier
BarcelonaDespite the positive macroeconomic data with which Spain closed 2025, the reality is that this hasn't translated into immediate benefits for families. During 2025, household savings in Spain declined. And, at the same time, Spanish households are taking out more and more loans. Thus, the household savings rate has seen a full year of progressive decline, as recently published by the National Statistics Institute (INE) with the third-quarter data. The proportion of household savings relative to gross disposable income stands at 12%, the lowest figure since the last quarter of 2023, meaning that they saved €11.084 billion less than the previous year. Specifically, between July and September, this figure fell by one-tenth of a percentage point compared to the previous quarter and by slightly more than one percentage point compared to the same period of the previous year, after adjusting for seasonal and calendar effects. Excluding these impacts, the household savings rate stood at 4.6% of net disposable income, compared to 6% a year ago. Thus, taking into account the balance of capital transfers from the sector, households registered a financing need of €7.537 billion (compared to the €3.588 billion estimated for the same quarter of 2024), explains Europa Press. According to the INE (National Statistics Institute), the Spanish economy registered a financing capacity vis-à-vis the rest of the world of €19.350 billion in the third quarter, representing 4.6% of the gross domestic product (GDP) for that period and a decrease of €487 million compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Parallel to the fall in savings, credit to households is increasing. Credit granted by financial institutions to households and non-profit organizations in Spain grew by 4.3% in November 2025 compared to the same month in 2024, reaching €723.6 billion, while financing to businesses increased by 0.6%, totaling €949.19 billion. Compared to November 2024, credit granted to households amounted to €25.586 billion and lending to businesses rose by €3.389 billion. On a month-on-month basis, financing to households increased by €15.016 billion in November compared to October, representing a 2% increase. Meanwhile, credit to businesses decreased by €331 million month-on-month, a 0.06% drop. Meanwhile, gross income in the State increased by 6% in the third quarter compared to the same period in 2024, due to the increase in compensation of resident employees and, to a lesser extent, the growth of the gross operating surplus.
More consumer credit
Household mortgage loans, which represent the largest share of their total debt, stood at €514.897 billion in November 2025, €16.363 billion more than a year earlier, a 3.4% increase. Data from the Bank of Spain shows that the amount families allocate to housing continues to account for the majority of their debt, representing around two-thirds. Household loans for consumption grew much more in November; specifically, by 12.6% year-on-year, reaching €114.673 billion, while household loans for other purposes amounted to €89.936 billion, representing a 1.1% decrease compared to the previous year.
For its part, financing to companies in November 2025 grew year-on-year due to the growth in loans from financial institutions and debt securities, while loans from abroad continued to fall in the eleventh month of the year.
Specifically, bank loans to companies reached €466,199 million in November, representing a 1.4% increase compared to the €456,125 million of the same month in 2024, while debt securities rose by 0.7%. Conversely, loans from abroad fell by 2.4% year-on-year, to €334,646 million.
