Latvia: Non-bank financial institutions' share of consumer loan market increases to 33%

RIGA - The share of consumer loans issued by non-bank financial institutions in the total consumer loan market has increased to 33 percent, according to a study carried out by Riga International School of Economics and Business Administration (RISEBA), Alternative Financial Services Association of Latvia, and audit company Ernst&Young Baltic.

RISEBA Vice-Rector Ilmars Kreituss told reporters on Tuesday that all consumer loans were issued by banks back in 2008, but the banks' share decreased to around 90 percent by 2013. Non-bank financial institutions' share of the market has been growing since, and the share of consumer loans issued by banks stood at 67 percent of the total consumer loan market in 2017.

The amount of payday loans issued by non-bank financial institutions stood at EUR 122 million and consumer loans at EUR 121 million. The respective figures for banks were EUR 157 million and EUR 335 million.

The average amount of consumer loans per capita in Latvia and the Baltics is smaller than in Denmark, Sweden and Poland, Kreituss also said.

The average consumer loan per resident in Latvia is EUR 442, EUR 228 in Lithuania and EUR 527 in Estonia - as compared to EUR 2,844 in Denmark, EUR 2,149 in Sweden and EUR 1,004 in Poland.