Personal loan growth moderates to 12.9% as on March 2026: RBI data

While personal loans constitute a significant portion of the overall credit ecosystem, their growth has moderated in the financial year ended March 2026. 

This data was revealed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) via a report titled ‘Annual Basic Statistical Return -1 on credit by scheduled commercial banks- March 2026’.

This report presented a series of data points, and one of the most pertinent stated that personal loan growth has moderated to 12.9 per cent as of end-March 2026, falling below overall credit growth after consistently outpacing it over the past several years.  However, the share of personal loans in total credit remained significant at 30.7 per cent.

Private corporate sector

Loans to the private corporate sector accounted for more than one-fourth of total bank credit and grew (y-o-y) by 15.5 per cent as on end-March 2026 from 11.9 per cent a year ago, RBI data revealed.

The year-on-year credit growth in the agriculture and industrial sectors rose to 14.4 per cent and 12.0 per cent, respectively, as of end-March 2026 from 8.1 per cent and 9.4 per cent a year ago. Meanwhile, their shares in total bank credit stood at 12.9 per cent and 22.4 per cent, respectively, as on end-March 2026.

Individual borrowers

The share of individuals in total bank credit remained at 47.8 per cent as on end-March 2026. Within this segment, the share of female borrowers stood at 24.7 per cent, marginally up from 23.8 per cent a year ago.

The share of term loans in total bank credit stood at 62.8 per cent as on end-March 2026. Within term loans, the share of loans with interest rates below 10 per cent stood at 80.2 per cent.

Borrowings by the household sector rose by 14.3 per cent as of end-March 2026. This sector’s share in total bank credit stood at 58.6 per cent.

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