Almost 80,000 car loans were issued in Ireland last year, representing a 20 percent jump on the year before.
According to a new report from the Banking and Payments Federation Ireland, there were 78,977 car loans taken out in 2025, valued at over €1 billion.
This was both 19.3 percent higher in volume and 18.6 percent higher in value than in 2024.
The Federation says that personal loan activity reached record highs in Ireland last year, including loans for home and green improvements alongside car loans.
Total loan volumes rose by 19 percent compared with 2024, to 272,980, while loan values also rose by 18.6 percent, reaching almost €3 billion over the same period.
The BPFI’s personal loan report for the last quarter of 2025 states that there were 67,626 personal loan drawdowns in Q4 2025, valued at €693 million.
The average personal loan value decreased by €172 year on year, down to €10,253.
Meanwhile, in the same quarter, there were 18,340 car or auto finance loans issued, the value of those loans increasing by 17.5 percent to €229 million.
A car or auto finance loan is defined by the report as a loan for which “the customer’s stated purpose is to buy a new or used car or other light motor vehicle or where the lender loan product is car loan”.
The average car loan in the last quarter of 2025 was €12,463, a fall from €12,757 a year earlier.
Home improvement loans, defined as a loan for which “the customer’s stated purpose is to pay for home improvments or where the lender loan product is home improvement loan”, were up by 17 percent year on year, to 17,584 for the same quarter.
They reached a value of €213 million, which was also 17 percent higher than Q4 2024.
The value of green personal loans also rose by 19.4 percent to €36.1 million in Q4 last year, the number of such loans rising by 17.8 percent over the same period to 1,562.
A green loan is defined by the Federation as a loan which has been designated as ‘Green’ by the lender, including but not limited to green car or auto finance and green home improvement loans.
In annual terms, green loan volumes rose by almost 26 percent to 6,516 loans, while values rose by almost 28 percent to €152.6 million.
Commenting on the findings, Chief Executive of the BPFI Brian Hayes said that “record drawdowns of personal loans in 2025 points to strong consumer confidence with many households continuing to seek finance to invest in major life purchases”.
“The value of loans for other purposes, including education, weddings and holidays, also exceeded €1 billion (€1,022 million), an increase of 21.8 percent in value year on year, with volumes up 21.7 percent to 125,523,” he added.
Commenting on the effect of energy costs on loan activity, Mr Hayes said “we know that energy costs have increased significantly this year”.
“With the renewed focus on energy saving measures and renewable energy and the latest SEAI data showing a 186 percent increase in individual home energy upgrades in Q1 2026, it will be interesting to observe if personal loan trends in the coming months reflects any further shift in consumer priorities,” he said.
The Personal Loan Report for the final quarter of 2025 was based on statistics supplied to BPFI by the participating member institutions (including AIB, AvantMoney, Bank of Ireland, KBC Bank Ireland [up to February 2023], Revolut [from February 2024] and PTSB, according to the report.