Personal loan drawdowns increased to €1.6 billion in 2022, up almost 19 per cent on 2021's figures.
Data from Banking and Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) showed home improvement loans were up 15.3 per cent year-on-year, totalling €533 million.
This marked the first time that home improvement loans surpassed the value of car loans which jumped to €523 million, up 7.2 per cent on 2021 figures.
Other loans, including education and travel loans, were the fastest growing subset, showing an annual increase of 36 per cent, bringing their value to €577 million last year.
On a quarterly-basis, personal loan drawdowns increased by 14.4 per cent in the final quarter of 2022 compared to the same period of 2021, making it the seventh consecutive quarter of year-on-year growth.
