The first half of 2026 brought a clear recovery in the market for loans to microbusinesses in Poland. Banks granted them 83,400 loans with a combined value of PLN 13.6 billion.
The number of new loans increased by 7.4% year on year, while their total value rose by as much as 16.4%. At the same time, the quality of the microbusiness loan portfolio remained at a safe level.
Positive lending growth was recorded across all sectors covered by the analysis. The number of loans increased most rapidly among retail and construction companies, while retail and manufacturing stood out in terms of the growth in financing value.
Microbusinesses are borrowing larger amounts
In the first half of 2026, banks granted more loans to microbusinesses than in the corresponding period of the previous year.
The increase in the value of financing was more than twice as high as the growth in the number of loans, indicating that the average value of an individual loan had increased.
The strongest recovery was recorded in products used to finance companies’ day-to-day operations. The number of working capital loans rose by 13.2%, while their combined value increased by 19.8%.
In the case of current account credit facilities, the number of new agreements increased by 5.3%, while their value was 13.1% higher than a year earlier.
A different trend was observed in the investment loan segment. The number of such loans fell by 16.9%, but their total value increased by 12.1%.
This means that microbusinesses took out fewer investment loans, but the loans that were granted were for significantly larger amounts.
The figures may indicate that investment activity is becoming concentrated around larger projects and that business owners are exercising greater caution when making decisions concerning long-term development.
Loan portfolio quality remains at a safe level
Despite the rapid increase in the value of new financing, the quality of the microbusiness loan portfolio did not deteriorate.
In June, the value-based Microbusiness Loan Quality Index stood at 4.57%, remaining at a safe and acceptable level.
Investment loans had the best credit quality, with an index reading of 3.39%. The figure stood at 4.39% for current account credit facilities and 5.78% for working capital loans.
Compared with June 2025, the overall Loan Quality Index improved, declining by 0.83 percentage points.
The strongest improvement was recorded in the working capital loan segment, where the index fell by 2.16 percentage points. The index for current account credit facilities improved by 0.79 percentage points.
Investment loans were the only category to record a deterioration, with the index increasing by 0.87 percentage points.
Services and retail account for most loans
Banks granted microbusinesses a total of 83,400 loans in the first half of 2026.
Service companies received the largest number, taking out 37,000 loans and accounting for 44.4% of total lending volumes.
Retail companies received 17,800 loans, representing 21.3% of all new credit agreements.
Together, the service and retail sectors accounted for 65.7% of the total number of loans granted to microbusinesses.
A similar concentration was visible in terms of loan value. Of the total PLN 13.6 billion granted by banks, service companies received PLN 4.92 billion, equivalent to 36.1% of total financing.
Microbusinesses operating in the retail sector received approximately PLN 3.54 billion, or 26% of the total value of loans.
Together, the two sectors accounted for 62.1% of all financing granted to microbusinesses.
Retail and construction record the strongest growth in loan numbers
Compared with the first half of 2025, the number of loans increased across all sectors covered by the analysis.
The strongest growth was recorded in retail, where the number of new loans increased by 9.1%. Construction ranked second, with growth of 7.9%.
All sectors also recorded increases in the value of financing.
The value of loans granted to retail businesses grew most rapidly, rising by 22.4%. Financing provided to manufacturing companies increased by 15.5%.
The figures indicate that businesses are increasingly seeking financing for working capital, inventory purchases, the settlement of current liabilities and the expansion of their operations.
The particularly strong increase in retail lending may be associated, among other factors, with the rising value of inventories and higher operating costs.
Construction companies have the weakest repayment performance
The construction sector recorded the greatest problems with loan portfolio quality in June 2026. Its Loan Quality Index stood at 5.50%.
Retail companies had the second-weakest result, with an index reading of 4.64%.
The service sector recorded the best loan portfolio quality, with an index of 4.27%.
Compared with June 2025, the index improved in three of the four sectors included in the analysis.
The strongest improvement was recorded in manufacturing, where the Loan Quality Index declined by 1.75 percentage points.
Construction was the only sector in which portfolio quality deteriorated slightly. Its index increased by 0.11 percentage points.
The results for the first half of 2026 show that demand for bank financing among microbusinesses is rising significantly.
At the same time, the improvement in the overall Loan Quality Index suggests that the expansion in lending has not yet resulted in a significant increase in the risk of loan defaults.
Source: Managerplus.pl
