The European Central Bank says bank lending to the euro zone private sector gained 0.9% in July.
The increase came after a 0.5% rise in June, an ECB spokesman said, revising higher the bank's initial estimate of a 0.3% rise.
Growth of the ECB's M3 money supply indicator, which measures cash, deposits and other financial benchmarks, increased by 0.2% in July, in line with market forecasts. In June it had also risen by 0.2%, the first increase since October 2009 after a slight rise initially reported for January was revised lower.
Lending and money supply data are widely-followed indicators of consumer demand and overall economic activity. Rising figures point to increased demand.
The euro zone emerged from recession last year and while some core economies have posted solid growth rates, others on the periphery are struggling with high public deficits and debt.
A breakdown of the credit data showed that loans to households gained 2.8% in July on a 12-month basis, the same rate as in June. Loans to businesses shrank by 1.3%, but that was slightly better than an annual drop of 1.6% the previous month.
Consumer credit typically picks up faster than business lending following an economic downturn.
