OECD Financing SMEs and Entrepreneurs Scoreboard: 2023 Highlights
The "OECD Financing SMEs and Entrepreneurs Scoreboard: 2023 Highlights" document SME
and entrepreneurship financing trends, conditions and policy developments. The report
provides official data on SME financing in close to 50 countries, including indicators
on debt, equity, asset-based finance and financing conditions. Data for 2021 are complemented
by available information for 2022, along with demand-side information and recent developments
in public policy and private initiatives to support SME finance.
Findings reveal that most economies showed the beginnings of a dynamic recovery from
the COVID-19 crisis in 2021. However, data available for 2022 point to a deterioration
in a number of SME finance indicators, due to high inflation and rising interest rates,
exacerbated by the effects of Russia's war against Ukraine. These factors are impacting
the accessibility and cost of debt finance for SMEs, and foreshadow a slowdown in
lending. Likewise, equity finance showed a significant decline in 2022. In this context,
governments should continue to foster the diversification of SME financing instruments
and channels to enable them to build resilience and undertake crucial investments,
such as those in digitalisation and greening.
Published on March 15, 2023Also available in: French
In series:OECD SME and Entrepreneurship Papersview more titles