The chart above shows the ten-year interest rate in each EU state as of April 2019, the change from the previous month, and the rate one year prior. Germany is the only state with a negative interest rate.
Findings
- The difference (spread) between the state with the lowest long-term interest rate, Germany, and the state with the highest, Romania, is 4.95 percentage points (up from 4.79 last month and up from 4.15 last year). Germany and Romania were the states with the lowest and highest rates respectively last month while Lithuania and Romania had the lowest and highest rates respectively last year.
- The median long-term interest rate in the 28 EU states is 0.57 (down from 0.68 the previous month and down from 0.94 last year) and the mean 1.17 (down from 1.24 the previous month and down from 1.41 last year).
- Two states did not see a change in their long-term interest rate from the previous month, 20 saw their rate decrease, and five states saw their rate increase.
- One state did not see a change in its long-term interest rate from last year, 22 saw their rate decrease, and four state saw their rate increase.
Caveats
- Data is from April 2019, March 2019, and April 2018.
- Estonia does not currently issue any sovereign debt that complies with the definition of long-term interest rates for convergence purposes and no suitable proxy indicator has been identified, therefore there is no data available for Estonia.
- All figures are rounded to the nearest hundredth.
Details
Greece saw its rate drop the most over the previous month dropping 0.34 percentage points. Hungary and Romania had the biggest spike in their rate rising 0.11 percentage points. Year over year, Cyprus saw its rate drop the most with a 0.63 percentage point drop while Italy had the biggest spike with a 0.85 percentage point rise in the long-term interest rate.
Denmark (from 0.16% the prior month to 0.08% this last month) and Luxembourg (from 0.17% to 0.11%) went from having higher rates than the Netherlands (from 0.15% to 0.20%) last month to having lower rates than the Netherlands this month. Austria (from 0.38% to 0.31%) went from having a higher rate than Finland (from 0.35% to 0.34%) last month to having a lower rate this month even though Finland's rate dropped.
Germany (from 0.48% last year to -0.04% this past month), Denmark (from 0.55% to 0.08%), Luxembourg (from 0.62% to 0.11%), and the Netherlands (from 0.69% to 0.20%) went from having higher rates than Lithuania (from 0.31% to 0.31%) last year to now having lower rates now. Sweden (from 0.71% to 0.23 %) had higher rates than Lithuania and Finland (from 0.69% to 0.34%) last year but now has lower rates. Austria (from 0.76% to 0.31%) went from higher rates than Finland and Slovakia (from 0.75% to 0.57%) to now having lower rates than both. France (from 0.78% to 0.37%) surpassed Slovakia, while Belgium (from 0.81% to 0.47%) surpassed both Slovakia and Latvia (from 0.80% to 0.58%). Bulgaria (from 1.02% to 0.50%) surpassed Slovenia (from 0.89% to 0.52%), Ireland (from 0.94% to 0.56%), Slovakia, and Latvia. Slovenia and Ireland surpassed Slovakia and Latvia. Malta (from 1.24% to 1.00%) surpassed Spain (from 1.21% to 1.04%). Cyprus (from 2.12% to 1.49%) surpassed Czechia (from 1.74% to 1.82%) and Italy (from 1.77% to 2.62%), while Croatia (from 2.12% to 1.82%) also surpassed Italy. And finally Poland (from 3.06% to 2.76%) overcame Hungary (from 2.47% to 3.14%).
For reference, the United States' ten-year note was at 2.87% in April 2018, 2.57% in March 2019, and 2.53% in April 2019, meaning that only Italy, Poland, Hungary, Greece, and Romania have higher rates than the US. Japan's ten-year rate was at 0.04% in April 2018, -0.04% in March 2019, and -0.04% in April 2019 tying it with Germany.
Data
| State | April 2018 | March 2019 | April 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Austria | 0.76 | 0.38 | 0.31 |
| Belgium | 0.81 | 0.54 | 0.47 |
| Bulgaria | 1.02 | 0.67 | 0.5 |
| Croatia | 2.12 | 2.07 | 1.82 |
| Cyprus | 2.12 | 1.74 | 1.49 |
| Czechia | 1.74 | 1.82 | 1.82 |
| Denmark | 0.55 | 0.16 | 0.08 |
| Finland | 0.69 | 0.35 | 0.34 |
| France | 0.78 | 0.44 | 0.37 |
| Germany | 0.48 | 0.01 | -0.04 |
| Greece | 4.04 | 3.76 | 3.42 |
| Hungary | 2.47 | 3.03 | 3.14 |
| Ireland | 0.94 | 0.67 | 0.56 |
| Italy | 1.77 | 2.69 | 2.62 |
| Latvia | 0.8 | 0.7 | 0.58 |
| Lithuania | 0.31 | 0.31 | 0.31 |
| Luxembourg | 0.62 | 0.17 | 0.11 |
| Malta | 1.24 | 1.03 | 1 |
| Netherlands | 0.69 | 0.15 | 0.2 |
| Poland | 3.06 | 2.75 | 2.76 |
| Portugal | 1.66 | 1.32 | 1.18 |
| Romania | 4.46 | 4.8 | 4.91 |
| Slovakia | 0.75 | 0.68 | 0.57 |
| Slovenia | 0.89 | 0.67 | 0.52 |
| Spain | 1.21 | 1.12 | 1.04 |
| Sweden | 0.71 | 0.29 | 0.23 |
| United Kingdom | 1.44 | 1.14 | 1.15 |
Sources
Eurostat. 2019. "EMU Convergence Criterion Series - Monthly Data." Accessed May 5, 2019. http://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?query=BOOKMARK_DS-055774_QID_-476A3DDB_UID_-3F171EB0&layout=TIME,C,X,0;GEO,L,Y,0;INT_RT,L,Z,0;INDICATORS,C,Z,1;&zSelection=DS-055774INDICATORS,OBS_FLAG;DS-055774INT_RT,MCBY;&rankName1=INDICATORS_1_2_-1_2&rankName2=INT-RT_1_2_-1_2&rankName3=TIME_1_0_0_0&rankName4=GEO_1_2_0_1&sortC=ASC_-1_FIRST&rStp=&cStp=&rDCh=&cDCh=&rDM=true&cDM=true&footnes=false&empty=false&wai=false&time_mode=NONE&time_most_recent=false&lang=EN&cfo=%23%23%23%2C%23%23%23.%23%23%23.
Eurostat. 2019. "Government Bond Yields, Ten Years' Maturity - Monthly Data." Accessed May 5, 2019. http://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?query=BOOKMARK_DS-054880_QID_-375EE9F6_UID_-3F171EB0&layout=TIME,C,X,0;GEO,L,Y,0;MATURITY,L,Z,0;INDICATORS,C,Z,1;&zSelection=DS-054880INDICATORS,OBS_FLAG;DS-054880MATURITY,Y10;&rankName1=MATURITY_1_2_-1_2&rankName2=INDICATORS_1_2_-1_2&rankName3=TIME_1_0_0_0&rankName4=GEO_1_2_0_1&sortC=ASC_-1_FIRST&rStp=&cStp=&rDCh=&cDCh=&rDM=true&cDM=true&footnes=false&empty=false&wai=false&time_mode=NONE&time_most_recent=false&lang=EN&cfo=%23%23%23%2C%23%23%23.%23%23%23.