Share

SMEs and entrepreneurship

book

Financing SMEs and Entrepreneurs 2022

An OECD Scoreboard

The COVID-19 crisis caused profound disruptions in the global economy, with SMEs and entrepreneurs, particularly hard hit. Swift measures implemented by governments and public financial institutions provided a crucial lifeline for liquidity-strapped SMEs. The 10th edition of Financing SMEs and Entrepreneurs 2022: An OECD Scoreboard sheds light on the impacts of the crisis on SME finance, tracking the latest developments in debt, equity, asset-based finance, and framework conditions, along with recent policy developments for 48 countries around the world. It shows that lending continued to flow to SMEs during the pandemic, with unprecedented growth in outstanding SME loans. What is more, credit conditions relaxed significantly: interest rates registered record lows, interest rate spreads narrowed considerably, and collateral requirements declined in most Scoreboard countries. In contrast, alternative sources of finance such as leasing and factoring declined significantly, in part because of the large uptake of credit. Evidence on equity finance shows a resilient venture capital sector, with some fragility in early-stage finance. The thematic chapter of this report assesses the evolution of SME financing support during the crisis, from the rescue to recovery phases. It documents a fall in the level of SME-related support in national recovery packages compared to earlier rescue measures.

Published on March 29, 2022Also available in: French

view previous editions

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface
Foreword
Reader’s guide
Acronyms and abbreviations
Executive summary
Recent trends in SME and entrepreneurship financing
SME finance in COVID-19 recovery packages: Assessment and implications
Country snapshots
Methodology for producing the national Scoreboards
Methodology for analysing COVID-19 policy trackers
Full Country Profiles46 chapters available
Australia
Austria
Belgium
Brazil
Canada
Chile
Colombia
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Georgia
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Indonesia
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Japan
Kazakhstan
Korea
Latvia
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Malaysia
Mexico
The Netherlands
New Zealand
People’s Republic of China
Peru
Poland
Portugal
Serbia
Slovak Republic
Slovenia
South Africa
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Thailand
Turkey
Ukraine
United Kingdom
United States
Powered by OECD iLibrary

Key messages

A 4.9% increase in the stock of SME loans

The stock of loans to SMEs reached new heights during the pandemic, growing by 4.9% in 2020. This is the largest increase in the past 10 years.

A 11.7% decrease in bankruptcies

Unprecedented support from governments has helped avoid a wave of SME bankruptcies, which fell by 11.7% in 2020.

A record drop in SME interest rates in some countries

Credit conditions have been favourable, with SME interest rates falling by 0.4 percentage points in 2020, the largest drop recorded since 2009.