The amount of credit owed in the Irish economy is €219bn according to stats released by the Central Bank.

The eye watering sum was included in a range of new data released by the bank under the title of Frontier Statistics which for the first time gives a breakdown of credit granted by a range of credit providers.

The aim, says the bank, is to give a more complete picture of loans in the domestic economy.

The new data shows banks are the largest providers of domestic loans to individuals with the majority linked to mortgage lending.

However, credit unions are the largest providers of personal loans to individuals.

The Central Bank also published new data looking at the distribution of interest rates among Irish borrowers – such as what percentage of borrowers are on a particularly high or low interest rate.

It revealed non-lending non-banks had the highest median interest rate, at 5.5% as of end-June 2024, but also held a higher share of mortgage loans with low rates.

While the median interest rate on bank-held mortgages at end-June 2024 was 3.95% but the median interest rate on mortgages held by lending non-banks was 2.85%

However, the median interest rate on mortgages was higher in June 2024 than it was one year prior, for all three institution types.

Deputy Governor Vasileios Madouros said:  “At the Central Bank of Ireland, we believe that access to high-quality data is a force for the public good.

"We also understand that data is more valuable when it is accessible, usable, and engaging. 

"Our new Frontier Statistics series aims to make more of our data broadly available, while ensuring that the insights are clear and compelling to the user.

"We look forward to making more of our data accessible to the public through this new platform.”

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