The classified claims of Tunisian resident banks reached 20.496 billion Tunisian dinars at end-2025, up from 19.268 billion at end-2024.
According to the Central Bank of Tunisia’s (BCT) annual banking supervision report, their share of total commitments rose to 14.9%. Behind this average, situations differ markedly between businesses and individuals, as well as among economic sectors.
Key figures. 20.496 billion Tunisian dinars of classified loan exposures, 14.9% of resident banks’ commitments, 20.8% for private enterprises and 52% of the coverage of classified claims by provisions. The 2025 data in the report are indicated as provisional.
An increase of 1.228 billion dinars in one year
The outstanding stock rose by 1.228 billion dinars between the end of 2024 and the end of 2025, or about 6.4%. The global rate moved from 13.6% in 2023 to 14.5% in 2024, then 14.9% in 2025. The volumes and ratios describe the commitments of resident banks; they must not be added to the data on leasing or on non-resident banks.
A classified claim signals a risk of non-repayment according to prudential rules. It does not automatically correspond to an amount definitively lost: the monitoring of the case, guarantees, provisions, and collection play a role in risk assessment.
Private enterprises more exposed than individuals
The share of classified claims in the commitments of private enterprises reached 20.8%, versus 19.9% in 2024 and 18.7% in 2023. For individuals, it declined to 7.4% in 2025, after 8% in 2024.
These proportions pertain to distinct borrower categories. They do not mean that one private company in five or one household in fourteen is in default: the indicator measures a share of commitments, not a proportion of people.
Tourism and construction: high rates
| Sector | 2024 | 2025 |
| Tourism | 35.6 % | 38.2 % |
| Construction | 26.5 % | 28.1 % |
| Agriculture | 21.5 % | 21.0 % |
| Industry | 18.0 % | 18.7 % |
| Commerce | 13.0 % | 13.4 % |
| Other services | 10.1 % | 10.3 % |
| Individuals | 8.0 % | 7.4 % |
Tourism accounts for the highest share among the sectors in the table, at 38.2%, followed by construction at 28.1%. Agriculture shows a slight improvement, with the rate reduced to 21%, while industry and commerce record increases in the proportion of classified claims.
The sectors industry, construction and commerce together concentrate 65.9% of the stock of classified claims in 2025, versus 64.6% in 2024. They also represent 55.1% of bank commitments: these are two different distributions, whose denominators are not interchangeable.
52% coverage by provisions: what does this ratio mean?
The coverage ratio of classified claims by provisions rose to 52% in 2025, from 50.5% in 2024, but remains below the 53% observed in 2023. Provisions for credit risk accounted for 18.4% of the sector’s net banking product in 2025, according to the BCT.
This 52% ratio does not mean that the remaining 48% will necessarily be lost, nor that guarantees are without value. Accounting provisions form a cushion against risk; net exposures and collateral require separate analysis.
Ten banks above 15%: significant disparities
According to the report, ten resident banks representing 45.4% of the sector’s total assets show a share of classified claims exceeding 15%. In contrast, eight banks, weighing 36% of assets, display a share below 7%. The publication does not name the institutions concerned in this table.
Regarding the handling of non-performing loans, the BCT also notes 719 million dinars in write-offs in 2025 and a cumulative total of around 3.4 billion dinars since 2022. A write-off should not be mechanically equated with a legal abandonment of the right to recover.
What is at stake for SME financing?
A somewhat riskier loan portfolio can prompt banks to strengthen solvency analysis, the monitoring of guarantees, and provisioning. Fragile enterprises, notably SMEs, may bear the effects when renewing their financing. The report, however, does not allow quantification of a direct credit decline caused by these classified claims.
Economic interpretation must thus combine asset quality, financing conditions, and banks’ ability to absorb losses. The BCT underlines, at the same time, the strengthening of the sector’s solvency: a deterioration in classified claims does not by itself constitute evidence of a generalized banking crisis.
