The headline is calm, the split is not. Euro-area non-performing loans (NPLs) are near a decade low overall, but broken down by bank size the stress is concentrated. The big banks (significant institutions, ~85% of assets) sit near 2%, while the small banks (less significant institutions - the Sparkassen, cooperative and savings banks, ~15% of assets) have a corporate book that has climbed to 5.16%, up about a third since 2023 and still rising.
The consumer book is steady; the corporate book is the engine, and within it the two stressed corners are commercial real estate and small-business loans. Germany, Austria and Italy carry most of it, right where corporate insolvencies are running hot. Supervisors agree (ECB SREP 2025, OeNB, ECB FSR May 2026). A cycle to watch, not a system in trouble.
Full 8-table dataset (pulled live from the ECB API): https://www.tigzig.com/ecb-npl-data-tables. Analysis: https://www.tigzig.com/post/ecb-npl-small-bank-corporate-strain-jun2026. Related: US private credit stress https://www.tigzig.com/agents-faq/what-is-happening-in-private-credit-shadow-lending.
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