Background
The Total CCR Credit Frontier Statistics publication presents data on the total amount of personal and business loans in Ireland, and a breakdown of loans by borrower, lender and loan type. This data is published for the first time as a Frontier Statistics release, indicating that the methods and data within are subject to revision. This data will be updated on a quarterly basis. You can learn more about the Frontier Statistics project on the What Are Frontier Statistics webpage.
Total CCR Credit figures are compiled from the Central Credit Register (CCR), a database containing records of loans and loan applications of over €500 borrowed by Irish residents or governed by Irish law. The CCR is established by the Central Bank of Ireland under the Credit Reporting Act 2013 as amended. As such, lenders are required to submit information on loans to the CCR.
This publication provides additional context to the Irish credit landscape alongside the Central Bank of Ireland Official Credit and Banking Statistics. Notable differences between these publications may be explained in the Coverage and Scope section.
Coverage and Scope
Data on Total CCR Credit is subject to the same coverage and scope as the CCR, from which the data is compiled. Information on the types of lenders and loans included in the CCR can be found on the Central Credit Register website. The lenders included in this publication, and defined in the CCR, are regulated financial service providers (i.e. banks), government (e.g. NAMA), credit unions and county councils/local authorities. Irish-resident lenders and lenders in the EEA regulated by other agencies are included in the CCR. This publication also includes non-banks - non-regulated Irish-resident companies which are lenders or holders of mortgage loans as well as other debt types. This includes lenders providing specific loans, for example for property/asset finance and leasing. More information on the composition of non-banks in the CCR is detailed in this Behind the Data report and the full population list is available on the Central Credit Register List of Information Providers.
There are some loan types which are absent from the CCR, including tradeable assets such as loan notes and debt securities, and other loan types including trade credit, intra-group credit and utilities debt. Other loans excluded are loans owed between credit institutions, however loans between other financial corporations such as investment funds are included.
The CCR captures data on loans to individuals as well as to companies. Individuals may also borrow for business purposes without being considered a company. An example of this would be sole traders. This publication addresses this by assigning loans to three distinct borrower types:
1/ Company credit
2/ Individual personal credit – borrowing by individuals where the loan type indicates that the borrowing is likely for personal usage
3/ Individual business credit – borrowing by individuals where the loan type indicates that the borrowing is likely for business usage
This publication relates to domestic credit only, with any loans included in the CCR which are identified as being to non-Irish residents excluded here.
The Statistics Division of the Central Bank of Ireland publishes Credit and Banking Official Statistics. There are key differences in the coverage of this data compared to the Total Credit data published under Frontier Statistics. One such difference is that the Credit and Banking data covers resident credit institutions such as banks and credit unions. As per the above, this Total Credit publication also includes other lender types – Government including Local Authorities and Non-Banks. Total Credit data also provides a different breakdown of the borrowers into Individuals borrowing in a personal capacity, individuals borrowing for business purposes, and companies, while the Credit and Banking Statistics is divided into Irish-resident households and non-financial corporations.
Data Checks and Revisions
As part of the Frontier Statistics series, the Total CCR Credit publication will undergo continuous revisions each quarter, and the data and methodology are subject to change. CCR data are subject to change, and therefore analysis will be repeated each quarter to ensure the most timely data is included.
Data quality checks have been carried out by comparing the Total Credit data with other Central Bank of Ireland Official Statistics data sets. This includes cross-checking the values obtained with the figures for Total Loans, Mortgage Loans and Credit Card Balances. Comparisons were also made with the Mortgage Arrears data set, namely PDH Loans and BTL Loans.
Definitions
Credit: Credit includes loans, deferred payments and other financial accommodations, including (but not limited to) personal loans, mortgages and commercial loans. The CCR does not include utility loans and credit provided by one credit institution to another, amongst others. See more information on the Central Credit Register website.
Central Credit Register (CCR): A database of loans of €500 or more borrowed by a person living in the Irish State at the time of applying for the loan, or borrowed via a loan agreement/application which is governed by Irish law. The CCR was set up in 2013 by the Central Bank of Ireland under the Credit Reporting Act 2013 (as amended). Lenders submit information on existing loans and loan applications to the CCR.
Borrower: Borrowers include individuals, sole traders and companies. The CCR collects information on borrowers who have made a credit application, has made a credit agreement or is a guarantor. They are a person (i.e. an individual or a sole-trader) or a legal entity.
Lender: The CCR collects data from Credit Information Providers (Lenders). This includes Banks, Non-Banks, Local Authorities, Government and Credit Unions.
Credit agreement covered by Irish law: The CCR contains loans whose credit agreements are covered by Irish law. Examples of this are large corporates and individuals moving in and out of the state and across the border.
Bank: Bank in this dataset refers to licensed credit institutions as published on the Central Credit Register website. This means that lending by traditional retail banks, as well as lending by international banks with limited interaction with the general public is considered within bank lending here, It also includes, where identifiable, non-bank lending entities which are owned by banks, and are therefore considered to be part of a banking group.
Non-bank: Lenders or holders of mortgage loans which are not banks, credit unions, or government-sponsored entities. Many non-bank lenders provide specific loans or cater for specific borrowers, such as property finance and asset finance and leasing. Others provide a combination of the aforementioned loan types.
Credit Union: A Credit Union is a financial co-operative formed for the promotion of thrift among its members by the accumulation of their savings; the creation of sources of credit for the mutual benefit of its members at a fair and reasonable rate of interest; and the use and control of members' savings for their mutual benefit.
Government: The Government sector refers to lending undertaken by any entity identified as being state controlled. This includes loans of local authorities, as well as other state bodies and agencies.
Individual Personal Loans: This relates to borrowing undertaken by individuals for their personal use, as opposed to business usage. Buy-to-let mortgage lending is also included within the individual personal loan category.
Company Loans: This relates to loans given to companies as opposed to individuals or sole traders. It includes loans to financial borrowers, such as investment funds, as well as non-financial corporates.
Individual Business Loans: This relates to loans given to individuals for business purposes, to the extent that this can be ascertained by the information provided for the purpose of the loan. This definition has been deemed the most appropriate for this publication, however other approaches to approximate sole trader lending are possible, and may be explored further in the future.
PDH Loans: Principal-Dwelling Home loans.
BTL Loans: Buy-To-Let loans.