Greek private-sector deposits rose €2.8bn in September 2026, but 85% came from businesses, not households

Greek bank deposits rose again in September 2026, but most of the new money belonged to companies rather than families.¹ Private-sector deposits increased by €2,787m in September 2026, and businesses accounted for €2,358m of that rise, about 85%, by our calculation.¹ Households and private non-profit institutions added €428m.¹

The figures come from the monthly release on bank credit and deposits that the Bank of Greece (Τράπεζα της Ελλάδος, Trapeza tis Ellados), the country's central bank, published on 27 October 2026.¹ They arrived a day after ELSTAT (ΕΛΣΤΑΤ, Ελληνική Στατιστική Αρχή, Elliniki Statistiki Archi), the Hellenic Statistical Authority, reported that households spent more than their disposable income in 2025, with a gross saving ratio of −3.9%, as we explained on 27 October.⁸

Who put the money in during September 2026?

Business deposits in Greece rose €2,358m in September 2026, after €2,341m in August, and their annual growth rate eased to 23.0% from 24.9%.¹ Within that, deposits of non-financial corporations rose €2,579m, while those of insurers and other financial intermediaries fell €221m.¹

Household deposits rose €428m in September 2026, after €485m in August, and their annual growth rate rose to 3.9% from 3.5%.¹ Over 12 months, business deposits are therefore growing about six times as fast as household deposits, by our calculation.¹

General government deposits rose €353m, so total deposits, including the state's, rose €3,140m in September 2026.¹ The annual growth rate of both total and private-sector deposits was 9.1%, unchanged from August.¹ Naftemporiki and dealnews.gr led their reports with the split between businesses and households.²⁷

The text of the Bank of Greece release gives monthly flows and growth rates, not balances; we did not see the table attached to it.¹ Naftemporiki, citing Bank of Greece data, put Greek private-sector deposits at €227.218bn in September 2026, of which €157.378bn belonged to households and €69.841bn to businesses.²

Is it really a 15-year high?

Greek outlets called the September 2026 figures a 15-year high, but they did not agree on which figure had reached it. ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ (Αθηναϊκό-Μακεδονικό Πρακτορείο Ειδήσεων, Athinaiko-Makedoniko Praktoreio Eidiseon), the Athens-Macedonian News Agency, reported that a balance of €157.3bn was the highest since August 2011.³ Its text described that series as deposits of "households and businesses", in our translation, but the €428m rise it cited belongs to households and private non-profit institutions alone.¹³ Other outlets, including newsit.gr and ieidiseis.gr, called the €227.2bn of private-sector deposits a "15-year record" without saying which earlier month it surpassed.⁴⁵ The in.gr headline described €3.14bn as deposits of private individuals, but €3,140m is the rise in total deposits, including the government's.⁶¹

The text of the Bank of Greece's September 2026 release makes no record claim of any kind, and we could not check either "15-year" claim against its full data series.¹

How can deposits rise when households spend more than they earn?

ELSTAT's figures show that in 2025 Greek households and the non-profit bodies serving them spent €171.8bn on consumption against €165.4bn of disposable income.⁸ The sources offer three partial explanations for why deposits kept rising regardless.

The first is composition: business deposits were up 23.0% on a year earlier in September 2026, against 3.9% for household deposits.¹

The second is income and credit. In its Interim Monetary Policy Report 2025, the Bank of Greece linked household deposit growth to higher nominal disposable income in 2024 and early 2025, and to positive net flows of bank credit to households, according to Naftemporiki and Business Daily.¹¹¹² That report came out before ELSTAT published its 2025 figures on 26 October 2026.¹¹⁸

The third is that households may be drawing on savings. ELSTAT put the household saving ratio at −3.3% in the first quarter of 2026, against −1.8% a year earlier, Ta Nea reported.⁹ Writing in ot.gr on 30 July 2026, Alexandros Klossas reported that household bank deposits fell, net, by about €1.03bn in that quarter.¹⁰ His reading was that consumption was being funded from earlier years' savings, bank borrowing and other financial sources.¹⁰ ot.gr is the only outlet we found reporting that fall.¹⁰

In the first quarter of 2026, Greek households' nominal disposable income rose 3.2% on a year earlier, but fell 0.4% in real terms, the Bank of Greece found.¹³

That finding comes from the Bank of Greece's Financial Stability Review of 22 October 2026, as reported by in.gr and hania.news.¹³¹⁴ The deposit figures, by contrast, are in current euros and are not adjusted for inflation.¹

Our reading is that the two sets of figures measure different things. ELSTAT's ratio is a flow: saving out of income over a whole year, 2025.⁸ The Bank of Greece figures describe deposits in September 2026 and their change over 12 months.¹ In our reading, a deposit balance can grow while households as a group spend more than they earn, if money arrives through borrowing, asset sales or a shift out of other savings, and a sector-wide average can hide some households saving heavily while others run their savings down. Neither point is made in this form by the sources, though ot.gr's reading above points the same way.¹⁰

Is borrowing still growing?

Growth in bank credit to the Greek private sector slowed to 6.0% a year in September 2026, from 7.3% in August.¹ Net new credit to the private sector was €735m in September 2026, of which €549m went to businesses.¹ Credit to individuals and private non-profit institutions rose €126m, after a net fall of €10m in August, and its annual growth rate was 2.3%, against 2.4% the month before.¹ The release text does not separate housing loans from consumer loans.¹

The Bank of Greece will publish its October 2026 figures for bank credit and deposits on 26 November 2026.¹