Loans to Irish households continued to fall in January as deposits rose on a year-on-year basis for the sixth month in a row, central bank figures showed on Thursday.

Loans to households fell 816 million euros in January compared with a decline of 372 million euros a month earlier, but the rate of annual decline increased to 4 percent from 3.9 percent in December.

Private sector deposits increased 3.7 percent year-on-year, up from a 2.5 percent rise in December.

(Reporting by Conor Humphries; Editing by Alison Williams)