Cross-border Bank Credit Surges 11% in 2025, Fastest Annual Growth Since 2008, BIS Says

Cross-border bank credit accelerated sharply in 2025, posting its fastest annual growth rate since just before the global financial crisis, as foreign-currency lending in U.S. dollars and euros remained strong, according to Bank for International Settlements data published Wednesday.

The BIS, the Switzerland-based institution that compiles international banking and liquidity statistics used by central banks and markets, said in its statistical release covering end-December 2025 data that “Cross-border bank credit grew by 11% year-on-year, the highest annual growth rate since Q1 2008.” The pickup points to a marked shift in global liquidity conditions.

Cross-border bank credit expanded by $656 billion in the fourth quarter of 2025, taking the outstanding total to $38.1 trillion at year-end. The quarterly increase was driven mainly by cross-border bank loans, which rose by $584 billion. Banks’ holdings of debt securities also increased, with the year-on-year growth rate in debt securities reaching 12% in the fourth quarter.

Credit to emerging market and developing economies also grew, though the rebound was uneven across regions. BIS data showed cross-border bank credit to EMDEs rose by $42 billion in the fourth quarter, lifting annual growth to 7% in 2025.

The strongest gains were in emerging Europe, where cross-border credit rose 26% from a year earlier, the fastest pace since 2008. Africa and the Middle East recorded 16% growth, also the strongest since 2008, while Latin America and the Caribbean rose 12%.

That contrasted with declines in Asia. Cross-border bank credit to China fell 15% from a year earlier, while the rest of emerging Asia and the Pacific declined 6.6%. Among individual EMDE borrowers, the biggest fourth-quarter inflows went to Brazil, at $14 billion, followed by Saudi Arabia at $7.5 billion, Türkiye at $6 billion and Poland at $5 billion.

The BIS global liquidity indicators showed a similar pattern of robust foreign-currency expansion outside borrowers’ home jurisdictions. “Foreign currency credit denominated in US dollars and euros continued to grow robustly in 2025,” the BIS said.

Dollar-denominated foreign-currency credit rose 8.5% in 2025, the fastest annual growth since the third quarter of 2014, reaching $14.3 trillion outstanding at end-2025. Euro-denominated foreign-currency credit increased 11% to 4.9 trillion euros. Yen-denominated foreign-currency credit moved the other way, contracting 4.9% over the year.

Over a longer period, foreign-currency borrowing by emerging markets has also increased. Dollar credit to EMDEs rose from $3.2 trillion at end-2015 to $4.3 trillion at end-2025, while euro credit climbed from 437 billion euros to 858 billion euros over the same period.

In the BIS locational banking statistics, credit means banks’ cross-border loans plus their holdings of debt securities, with figures adjusted for exchange-rate moves and reporting breaks. For emerging markets, strong foreign-currency borrowing can increase exposure to exchange-rate swings and tighter global financing conditions, especially when debt is denominated in dollars or euros.