Net interest income of leading European banks 2003-2022

The net interest income of a bank is the difference between the amount of interest the bank earns from its loans and investments, and the amount of interest the bank pays on its depositors' accounts and its borrowing. Simply put, it's the profit a bank makes from lending money. During economic downturns and recessions, there is generally a decrease in the demand for loans, leading to lower interest earnings for the banks. This was the case, for instance, after the global financial crisis in 2007-2008. Another decrease in the interest income of the leading European banks took place during and after the euro area recession in 2012. The next economic contraction, that was caused by COVID-19 in 2020, did not influence the net interest income of the observed banks drastically, although there was a slight decrease between 2020 and 2021 at three out of the four observed banks. In 2022, all observed banks saw an increase in the net interest income.