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Table of Contents

The 5 Countries With the Lowest Interest Rates

By
Elvis Picardo
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Elvis Picardo is a regular contributor to Investopedia and has 25+ years of experience as a portfolio manager with diverse capital markets experience.
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Updated June 12, 2022
Reviewed by
Michael J Boyle
Michael Boyle
Reviewed by Michael J Boyle
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Michael Boyle is an experienced financial professional with more than 10 years working with financial planning, derivatives, equities, fixed income, project management, and analytics.
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Interest rates change over time depending on market conditions and are a popular monetary tool in helping to stimulate the environment in times of economic difficulty or to contract the money supply in times of high inflation.

The world is currently going through a global pandemic, and so all countries are in a unique situation to prevent their economies from collapsing and therefore are adjusting their monetary policies to suit the times. The following are the five countries with the lowest interest rates as of Jun. 11, 2022.

1. Switzerland

The Swiss National Bank reported an unchanged benchmark of a three-month LIBOR of -0.75%. Inflation, based on the Consumer Price Index, for 2021 was 0.6% increase versus 2020. GDP growth prediction for 2022 is 2.5% and 1.3% in 2023, due to slower demand due to the Ukraine war. As of Mar. 24, 2022, Switzerland is holding the policy interest rate at -0.75%.

2. Denmark

The primary interest rate in Denmark is the certificate of deposit rate set by the Central Bank of Denmark. As of Jun. 11, 2022, the interest rate is -0.60%. As of May 2022, based on the Consumer Price Index, inflation was 7.4% higher versus last year.

3. Japan

The Bank of Japan reported an unchanged interest rate of -0.1%. The government will increase its purchasing of riskier assets and corporate bonds to reduce economic damage.

Interest rates are always set by a country's central bank unless they are part of a specific union, in which case the central bank of that union will determine the rate.

The government is also offering loans against corporate debt as collateral with rates set at 0%. Japan's inflation rate in Mar. 2022 was 0.8%.

4. Sweden

The central bank of Sweden reported a benchmark interest rate of 0.25%, as of Jun. 11, 2022. The main interest rate in Sweden is the repo rate; the rate at which banks can borrow from the central bank for seven days.

Sweden's interest rate was increased from 0% in Jan. 2020 to 0.25% in May 2022. As of April 2022, Sweden's CPIF (Consumer Price Index with a fixed interest rate) rate was 6.4% while the target was 2%.

5. Spain

Spain is part of the Eurozone, so its interest rate is set by the European Central Bank. The current rate for Spain is set at 0%, its rate for the last four years. This is the same rate for the entire eurozone. As of May 2022, Spain's inflation rate was estimated to be 6.3%.

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  1. Swiss National Bank. "Current Interest Rates and Exchange Rates."

  2. Trading Economics. "Switzerland Interest Rate."

  3. Federal Statistics Office-Switzerland. "Consumer Prices."

  4. Danmarks Nationalbank. "Official Interest Rates."

  5. Statistics Denmark. "Consumer Price Index."

  6. Bank of Japan. "The Bank's Market Operations-Interest Rate to the Complementary Deposit Facility."

  7. Nikkei Asia. "Japan Inflation Accelerates on Rising Material and Energy Costs."

  8. Sveriges Riksbank. "Policy Rate, Deposit and Lending Rate."

  9. Sveriges Riksbank. "Monetary Policy."

  10. European Union. "Spain."

  11. European Central Bank-Eurosystem. "Measuring Real Interest Rates in the Euro Area Countries."

  12. European Central Bank-Eurosystem. "Key ECB Interest Rates."

  13. European Union-European Commission. "Economic Forecast for Spain."