The 2025 OECD Financing SMEs and Entrepreneurs Scoreboard provides insights into SME financing across nearly 50 countries. It helps governments and financial institutions monitor access to finance, financing conditions, and policies, promoting SME resilience and growth.
Covering data from 2007 to 2023, the Scoreboard highlights trends in debt, equity, asset-based finance, and financing conditions. It also includes data for 2024 and early 2025, along with details on public policies and private initiatives supporting SME finance.
This report arrives at a critical time. Following COVID-19 recovery, SMEs have faced significant challenges, including high inflation and rising bank lending rates. While inflation has moderated, borrowing conditions remain restrictive, and global financial conditions tightened in late 2024. As a result, SME lending fell by 4.7% in 2023, a sharp decline from 2022.
Alternative financing methods like factoring, leasing, and equity finance have not sufficiently filled the gap. Factoring dropped by 1.3% in 2023, while equity finance fell 34%. Venture capital showed slight growth, especially in artificial intelligence sectors in North America.
This shift in financing structures means more short-term, smaller-scale loans are being taken out, which could hinder long-term investments and SME productivity. Governments have responded with increased support, such as government-guaranteed loans, direct lending, and strategic venture capital, especially for green and deep-tech sectors.
The Scoreboard will continue to track SME financing trends to help governments and financial institutions foster innovation and growth in the SME sector, ensuring their resilience amidst ongoing challenges.
Source: INSME Secretariat
