Statistical release: BIS international banking statistics and global liquidity indicators at end-September 2025
Key takeaways
- Global cross-border bank claims expanded by $832 billion in the third quarter of 2025, reaching $45 trillion.
- The $730 billion Q3 2025 increase in cross-border bank credit was led by lending to borrowers in the United States ($284 billion); non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs) were a prominent counterparty globally, especially those in the United States ($157 billion).
- Cross-border bank credit to emerging Asia declined by 6% year on year, while that to emerging Europe, Africa and the Middle East, and Latin America grew by 24%, 17% and 6%, respectively.
- The BIS global liquidity indicators show that foreign currency credit in dollars grew by 7% year on year at end-Q3 2025 on the back of a weakening dollar. Foreign currency credit in euros grew 11% while that in yen contracted by 4%.
Cross-border bank credit continues to expand
The BIS locational banking statistics (LBS) show a $832 billion expansion in banks global cross-border claims in Q3 2025 on an exchange rate- and break-adjusted basis (Graph 1.A). The stock of outstanding claims rose to $45 trillion. The increase was driven predominantly (+$730 billion) by cross-border bank credit (ie loans and holdings of debt securities but excluding derivatives and other claims).1 Cross-border bank credit grew by 10% year on year at end-Q3 2025, boosted by strong growth in dollar and euro credit (Graph 1.B).
The increase in cross-border bank credit in Q3 2025 went primarily to borrowers in the United States and other advanced economies.2 Cross-border bank credit to borrowers in the United States expanded by $284 billion, while that to developed Europe rose by $225 billion, that to other developed countries by $118 billion and that to emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs) by $70 billion (Graph 2.A).
Banks increased their credit to all main counterparty sectors in Q3 2025, led by NBFIs. Credit to NBFIs, bank and non-financial sector (NFS) borrowers rose by $312 billion, $192 billion and $216 billion, respectively (Graph 2.B). The year-on-year growth in cross-border bank credit remained elevated across counterparty sectors, led by credit to NBFIs, which expanded by 13% (Graph 2.C).
Bank credit to NBFI borrowers in the United States in Q3 2025 drove both total bank credit to the United States and global bank credit to NBFIs. Credit to NBFIs in the United States amounted to $157 billion in the quarter, accounting for over half of the increased credit to all US borrowers (Graph 3.A). Credit to the non-financial and banking sectors increased by $93 billion and $35 billion, respectively. Credit to NBFIs in the United States accounted for 22% of the total increase in cross-border bank credit globally and over half of such credit directed to NBFIs globally (Graph 3.B).
Cross-border bank credit to EMDEs continued to expand through Q3 2025. Credit to borrowers in Africa and the Middle East expanded by $52 billion, driven by lending to the United Arab Emirates (+$17 billion) and Qatar (+$12 billion) (Graph 4.A). Borrowers in emerging Europe saw an increase of $33 billion. The largest increases were vis-à-vis Türkiye (+$6 billion) and Romania (+$2 billion). Credit to Latin America rose by $31 billion, driven by Brazil (+$11 billion) and Colombia (+$8 billion). The respective year-on-year growth rates consequently picked up, reaching 24% for emerging Europe, 17% for Africa and the Middle East, and 6% for Latin America (Graph 4.B). In contrast, cross-border bank credit to borrowers in emerging Asia declined for the second straight quarter (by $45 billion in Q3 2025), driven by borrowers in China ( -$48 billion), leading the region's year-on-year growth rate to decline to -6%.
Global liquidity indicators at end-September 2025
The BIS global liquidity indicators (GLIs) track total credit to non-bank borrowers, covering both loans extended by banks and funding from international bond markets.3 The latter is captured through the net issuance (gross issuance less redemptions) of international debt securities (IDS). The focus is on foreign currency credit denominated in the three major reserve currencies (US dollar, euro and Japanese yen) to non-residents, ie borrowers outside the respective currency areas.
Dollar credit outside the United States continued to grow through end-Q3 2025, on the back of a weaker dollar. At that point, the year-on-year growth rate stood at 7% for dollar-denominated credit, while the dollar continued its 2025 depreciation (Graph 5.A).
Euro credit outside the euro area also grew robustly, while yen credit contracted. Euro-denominated credit grew 11% year on year at end-Q3 2025, continuing a streak of positive growth rates extending back to Q1 2013 (Graph 5.B). In contrast, yen credit outside Japan declined by 4% year on year, coming down from high growth in recent years.
The latest growth in dollar credit outside the United States reflects significant credit from bank loans alongside bonds. Dollar credit stood at $14 trillion at end-Q3 2025, with 55% in the form of debt securities (Graph 6.A). The share of debt securities had been steadily rising after the Great Financial Crisis, but has held steady since 2022 as credit via bank loans matched its pace.4 The picture for dollar credit to EMDEs looks similar, with credit standing just over $4 trillion and the debt securities share levelling off towards 55% (Graph 6.B).5
Annex graphs
1 In the BIS LBS, bank claims comprise: (i) loans and deposits; (ii) holdings of debt securities; and (iii) derivatives with a positive market value plus other residual instruments (combined). Credit is defined as the sum of (i) and (ii).
2 Starting from 2026, the country groupings of advanced economies (AEs) and emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs) used in BIS statistical commentaries and other BIS publications have been aligned with the country classification of the IMF s World Economic Outlook (WEO), extended to the broader set of countries covered in BIS statistics. Relative to the BIS s previous country groupings, the following countries are now re-classified as advanced: Bulgaria, Chinese Taipei, Czechia, Hong Kong SAR, Israel, Korea, Macao SAR and Singapore. Further details and other minor changes can be found here. The graphs in this statistical release use the updated country groupings for the entire time series shown. The change induces no statistical breaks, but the new EMDE aggregates will be smaller than those in previous statistical releases and commentaries.
3 The GLIs cover total foreign currency credit denominated in US dollars, euros or Japanese yen, which includes loans from banks plus outstanding international bonds. This is broader than the bank credit covered in previous sections, which captures banks loans and their holdings of debt securities.
4 The rising share of debt securities post-2008 is a feature of the second phase of global liquidity (H S Shin, The second phase of global liquidity and its impact on emerging economies , keynote address at the San Francisco Federal Reserve Asia Economic Policy Conference, 4 November 2013. See Hardy and von Peter, Global liquidity: a new phase? , BIS Quarterly Review, December 2023, pp 21 31 for a discussion of the different phases of global liquidity and their features.
5 The updated country classification mentioned above reclassified several EMDEs as advanced economies. Consequently, the new global liquidity aggregate for dollar credit to EMDEs is lower than the amounts shown previously (eg $5.3 trillion at end-Q2 2025).