Business Credit Indicators: How to Read the RBA and ABS Lending Data

In short: Two official series tell you most of what is happening to business credit in Australia. The RBA's monthly Financial Aggregates show how much the total stock of lending to businesses is growing; its August 2026 release put business credit growth at 10.9% over the year. The ABS Lending Indicators, now quarterly, show the value of new business loan commitments. One measures the stock, the other the flow, and reading them together is how lenders and borrowers judge the market.

Key takeaways

The RBA's Financial Aggregates (tables D1 and D2) measure the stock of credit; business credit means lending to non-financial businesses.
In the August 2026 release, business credit grew 0.9% in the month and 10.9% over the year, ahead of housing credit at 7.3%.
The ABS Lending Indicators measure new loan commitments and became quarterly after the September 2024 issue.
June quarter 2026 new business commitments: $12.5 billion for construction and $27.2 billion for purchase of property, seasonally adjusted.
Growth rates are seasonally adjusted and adjusted for series breaks; the RBA warns against calculating growth from the levels.
For a borrower the data is context for a conversation with lenders, not a signal to time a loan.

What are business credit indicators, and who publishes them?

Business credit indicators are official statistics on how much lenders lend to businesses, how that is changing and at what price. Four sources cover most of what a borrower or broker needs.

Series	Publisher	What it measures	Frequency
Financial Aggregates (tables D1 and D2)	RBA	Growth and level of credit outstanding: housing, personal and business	Monthly
Lending Indicators	ABS	New loan commitments for housing and business	Quarterly since the December quarter 2024
Business Lending Rates (table F7)	RBA	Interest rates on business loans	Updated with the RBA's statistical tables
Monthly ADI statistics	APRA	Selected information on the banking business of individual banks in the domestic market	Monthly

All four are published online, but they answer different questions. The rest of this post takes them in turn and then shows how they fit together.

How do you read the RBA’s Financial Aggregates?

The Financial Aggregates release reports growth in credit extended by financial institutions operating in Australia. The August 2026 Financial Aggregates release, published on 30 September 2026, showed:

Credit	Growth in August 2026	Growth over the year to August 2026	Year to August 2025, for comparison
Total	0.6%	8.4%	7.2%
Housing	0.4%	7.3%	6.1%
Personal	0.7%	5.1%	4.0%
Business	0.9%	10.9%	9.8%

Four points from the release's own notes matter when you read it:

Business credit is lending to non-financial businesses. It includes large corporates as well as small businesses, so it is not a small business measure on its own.
Growth rates are seasonally adjusted and adjusted for breaks, such as a lender reclassifying loans. The levels are not, and the RBA says growth rates should not be calculated from the levels.
Coverage is domestic intermediated credit. Borrowing offshore or directly from bond investors is not captured.
History gets revised as institutions resubmit data and seasonal factors are re-estimated, so last month's figure can change.

The underlying series sit in tables D1 and D2 of the RBA's statistical tables. A new release each month replaces these figures, so check the latest before quoting them.

How do you read the ABS Lending Indicators?

Where the RBA measures the stock of credit, the ABS measures the flow of new lending: the value of loans lenders committed to in the period. The ABS series page for Lending Indicators shows it moved from monthly to quarterly issues after September 2024, with the September quarter 2026 issue due on 11 November 2026.

The June quarter 2026 Lending Indicators, released on 14 August 2026, reported these seasonally adjusted values of new business loan commitments:

Business purpose	June quarter 2026	Change on March quarter 2026	Change on June quarter 2025
Construction	$12.5 billion	+2.9%	-0.2%
Purchase of property	$27.2 billion	+4.4%	+18.9%

The headline business figures on the release page cover construction and purchase of property. The downloadable tables go further, splitting business lending into fixed-term loans and finance leases by purpose, and the ABS publishes trend series alongside the seasonally adjusted ones. The same release covers housing: the value of new loan commitments for dwellings fell 5.2% in the June quarter 2026, so business property lending and housing lending were moving in different directions that quarter.

Why can stock and flow tell different stories?

Credit outstanding and new commitments measure different things, so they do not always move together.

Drawdowns without new loans. A business that draws an extra $200,000 on an existing $500,000 overdraft limit adds to credit outstanding but creates no new commitment.
Commitments without drawdowns. A construction facility committed this quarter may be drawn over the next 18 months, so it appears in commitments now and in credit growth gradually.
Repayments. Credit outstanding is new lending minus repayments. Strong new commitments can coincide with modest credit growth if existing loans are being repaid at the same time.
Refinancing between lenders. Moving a loan from one lender to another can show as a new commitment while total credit outstanding barely changes.

Put the two releases side by side and a pattern appears. Business credit grew 10.9% over the year to August 2026, while new commitments for purchase of property in the June quarter 2026 were 18.9% higher than a year earlier and commitments for construction were 0.2% lower. On those figures, new business lending was being led by property purchases rather than construction. The periods are not identical (a month against a quarter), and the commitment series covers only the purposes the ABS breaks out, so treat this as a reading, not a conclusion.

Rising commitments with slower credit growth can mean lenders are competing to refinance existing borrowers; rising credit with flat commitments can mean businesses are leaning on facilities they already have. Neither reading is certain from the headline figures alone, which is why analysts look at both.

Where do business lending rates fit?

Volume is half the picture; price is the other half. The RBA publishes business lending rates in table F7, indicator lending rates in table F5 and money market rates, including daily bank bill rates sourced from ASX, in table F1. Its cash rate target was 4.60% from 30 September 2026, and its 2026 schedule has decisions on 3 November and 8 December.

For a borrower, the useful comparison is the gap between the rates businesses are paying and the cash rate or bank bill rate over time. A widening gap with strong credit growth suggests demand is outrunning lenders' willingness to compete on price; a narrowing gap suggests the reverse. For how bill rates feed into facilities, see our guide to BBSW and business lending.

What do lenders read into the data?

Lenders watch these series for three reasons:

Market share. A lender growing its business book more slowly than system business credit is losing share. That can lead to sharper pricing or wider credit appetite in segments it wants to win back.
Risk build-up. Strong credit growth in one sector can be a warning sign. The RBA's Financial Stability Review discusses risks in business lending and how much borrowers owe.
Competitor behaviour. APRA's monthly ADI statistics show the banking business of individual banks in the domestic market, so a lender can see who is growing its business lending and who is not. The August 2026 edition was published on 30 September 2026.

None of this rewrites a lender's credit policy from one month to the next, but it shapes appetite: which industries, deal sizes and security types a lender is keen on this quarter. Our post on credit policy versus credit appetite explains the difference.

What are the common misreadings?

Misreading	Why it is wrong	What to do instead
Treating monthly growth as annual	0.9% in a month is not 0.9% a year	Read the year-ended column for direction, the monthly column for momentum
Calculating growth from the levels	Levels are not break-adjusted; the RBA warns against it	Use the published growth rates
Business credit equals small business lending	It includes lending to all non-financial businesses	Look for size or industry breakdowns where published
Comparing seasonally adjusted and original figures	Different series, different behaviour	Compare like with like
Assuming the ABS series is still monthly	It has been quarterly since after September 2024	Check the release calendar on the series page
Ignoring revisions	Both series are revised	Use the latest release, not a figure you saved months ago

What should a borrower do with these numbers?

Do not try to time a loan with them. A business borrows when it has a purpose, a plan and the cash flow to repay, and no monthly statistic changes those. What the data can do is help you read the conversation you are having with lenders:

If business credit is growing strongly and you are being offered tight terms, ask why your deal is priced differently from the market, and test it with other lenders.
If commitments for your purpose, say purchase of property, are rising sharply, lenders are active in that segment; a well-prepared request should find interest.
If rates on business loans are rising by more than the cash rate, margins are widening; your security, documents and serviceability evidence matter more.

Prepare as you would in any market: two years of financials, a clear purpose and a serviceability check. The ICR and DSCR calculator shows how lenders will test your cover, and our business loan types guide helps you match the product to the purpose. When you are ready, post one business loan request on ADS and 200+ verified lenders and brokers can ask about it.

Frequently asked questions

Where can I find business credit growth in Australia?

In the RBA's monthly Financial Aggregates release and in tables D1 and D2 of its statistical tables. Business credit is lending to non-financial businesses by financial institutions operating domestically. The August 2026 release, published 30 September 2026, showed business credit up 0.9% in the month and 10.9% over the year.

What is the difference between credit growth and lending commitments?

Credit growth measures the change in the total stock of loans outstanding, after repayments. Lending commitments measure the value of new loans lenders agreed to make in a period. A new facility may be committed now and drawn later, and drawing on an existing limit adds to credit without a new commitment.

Is the ABS Lending Indicators release monthly or quarterly?

Quarterly. The ABS moved from monthly issues, the last covering September 2024, to quarterly issues from the December quarter 2024. The June quarter 2026 issue was released on 14 August 2026 and the September quarter 2026 issue is scheduled for 11 November 2026, according to the ABS series page.

Does business credit data show small business lending?

Not on its own. The RBA's business credit series covers lending to all non-financial businesses, from sole traders to large corporates. Small business trends need series that break lending down by business or loan size where published. Treat the headline figure as a picture of the whole business lending market.

Should I wait for credit data before seeking a business loan?

No. The data describes the market, not your deal. Lenders decide on your purpose, cash flow, security and history. The figures are useful context, for example when a lender's terms look out of line with the market, but they are not a reason to delay a loan your business genuinely needs.

Sources

Financial Aggregates, August 2026 (released 30 September 2026) — Reserve Bank of Australia
Statistical tables (D1, D2, F1, F5, F7) — Reserve Bank of Australia
Lending Indicators, June quarter 2026 — Australian Bureau of Statistics
Lending Indicators (series page and release calendar) — Australian Bureau of Statistics
Monthly authorised deposit-taking institution statistics — Australian Prudential Regulation Authority
Financial Stability Review — Reserve Bank of Australia
Cash rate target — Reserve Bank of Australia

Information current as at 24 October 2026.

General advice warning: This article contains general information only. It does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs, and it is not personal credit or financial advice. Consider whether it is appropriate for you and seek advice from a licensed credit representative before acting.

Any interest rate shown is an example only and is not an offer of credit. Where a rate is quoted, the applicable comparison rate is available from the relevant lender and should be considered alongside it.