The chart above shows the ten-year interest rate in each EU state as of August 2021, the change from the previous month, and the rate one year prior. Eleven states have a negative interest rate (up from 9 last month and down from 13 last year).
Findings
- The difference (spread) between the state with the lowest long-term interest rate, Germany, and the state with the highest, Romania, is 4.26 percentage points (up from 3.69 last month and down from 4.40 last year). Germany had the lowest rate last month and the lowest rate last year. Romania had the highest rate last month and the highest rate last year.
- The median long-term interest rate in the 28 EU states is 0.12 (down from 0.15 the previous month and up from 0.08 last year) and the mean 0.38 (down from 0.44 the previous month and up from 0.38 last year).
- Of the 28 states, 2 saw no change in the long-term interest rate from the previous month, 23 saw the rate decrease, and 3 saw the rate increase.
- Of the 28 states, 1 saw no change in the long-term interest rate from last year, 13 saw the rate decrease, and 14 saw the rate increase.
Caveats
- Data is from August 2020, July 2021, and August 2021.
- All figures are rounded to the nearest hundredth.
Details
Slovenia saw the rate drop the most over the previous month dropping 0.23 percentage points. On the flip side, Romania saw the rate rise the most gaining 0.48 percentage points. Year over year, Cyprus saw the rate drop the most with a 0.74 percentage point drop while Czechia saw the rate rise the most gaining 0.79 percentage points.
Slovenia (from 13th lowest rate to 10th lowest rate) and Portugal (from 18th lowest rate to 15th lowest rate) rose 3 spots over the course of the month. Conversely, Lithuania (from 15th to 18th) fell 3 spots.
Over the course of the year, Cyprus (from 22nd to 17th) rose 5 spots. On the flip side, the United Kingdom (from 16th to 22nd) fell 6 spots.
For reference, the United States' ten-year note was 0.65% in August 2020, 1.31% in July 2021, and 1.28% in August 2021, meaning that Poland, Czechia, Hungary, and Romania have higher rates than the US. Japan's ten-year rate was 0.03% in August 2020, 0.02% in July 2021, and 0.02% in August 2021 being bested by Germany, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Slovakia, Austria, Finland, Denmark, Belgium, France, Slovenia, and Ireland.
Data
| State | August 2020 | July 2021 | August 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Austria | -0.28 | -0.13 | -0.23 |
| Belgium | -0.21 | -0.03 | -0.14 |
| Bulgaria | 0.26 | 0.14 | 0.14 |
| Croatia | 0.85 | 0.45 | 0.43 |
| Cyprus | 0.89 | 0.25 | 0.15 |
| Czechia | 0.95 | 1.72 | 1.74 |
| Denmark | -0.36 | -0.05 | -0.16 |
| Estonia | 0 | 0.09 | 0.02 |
| Finland | -0.25 | -0.1 | -0.21 |
| France | -0.17 | -0.01 | -0.11 |
| Germany | -0.52 | -0.45 | -0.54 |
| Greece | 1.08 | 0.7 | 0.59 |
| Hungary | 2.18 | 2.83 | 2.84 |
| Ireland | -0.12 | 0.03 | -0.08 |
| Italy | 1.03 | 0.75 | 0.63 |
| Latvia | -0.19 | 0.09 | 0 |
| Lithuania | 0.16 | 0.16 | 0.16 |
| Luxembourg | -0.45 | -0.4 | -0.47 |
| Malta | 0.54 | 0.49 | 0.44 |
| Netherlands | -0.41 | -0.38 | -0.48 |
| Poland | 1.32 | 1.61 | 1.6 |
| Portugal | 0.36 | 0.27 | 0.14 |
| Romania | 3.88 | 3.24 | 3.72 |
| Slovakia | -0.22 | -0.14 | -0.25 |
| Slovenia | -0.1 | 0.14 | -0.09 |
| Spain | 0.29 | 0.33 | 0.21 |
| Sweden | -0.04 | 0.18 | 0.11 |
| United Kingdom | 0.21 | 0.62 | 0.57 |
Sources
Eurostat. 2021. "EMU Convergence Criterion Series - Monthly Data." Accessed October 14, 2021. https://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?query=BOOKMARK_DS-055774_QID_-6D4B6671_UID_-3F171EB0&layout=TIME,C,X,0;GEO,L,Y,0;INT_RT,L,Z,0;INDICATORS,C,Z,1;&zSelection=DS-055774INDICATORS,OBS_FLAG;DS-055774INT_RT,MCBY;&rankName1=INDICATORS_1_2_-1_2&rankName2=INT-RT_1_2_-1_2&rankName3=TIME_1_0_0_0&rankName4=GEO_1_2_0_1&sortC=ASC_-1_FIRST&rStp=&cStp=&rDCh=&cDCh=&rDM=true&cDM=true&footnes=false&empty=false&wai=false&time_mode=NONE&time_most_recent=false&lang=EN&cfo=%23%23%23%2C%23%23%23.%23%23%23.
Eurostat. 2021. "Government Bond Yields, Ten Years' Maturity - Monthly Data." Accessed October 14, 2021. https://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?query=BOOKMARK_DS-054880_QID_B3CE00F_UID_-3F171EB0&layout=TIME,C,X,0;GEO,L,Y,0;MATURITY,L,Z,0;INDICATORS,C,Z,1;&zSelection=DS-054880INDICATORS,OBS_FLAG;DS-054880MATURITY,Y10;&rankName1=MATURITY_1_2_-1_2&rankName2=INDICATORS_1_2_-1_2&rankName3=TIME_1_0_0_0&rankName4=GEO_1_2_0_1&sortC=ASC_-1_FIRST&rStp=&cStp=&rDCh=&cDCh=&rDM=true&cDM=true&footnes=false&empty=false&wai=false&time_mode=NONE&time_most_recent=false&lang=EN&cfo=%23%23%23%2C%23%23%23.%23%23%23.