Archive:Access to finance statistics
- Data from Month Year, most recent data: Further Eurostat information, Main tables and Database.
Political backdrop
External finance is essential for all businesses that strive to increase productivity, foster innovation, conquer new markets, or, in general, seek to create employment and wealth for the wider national and international benefits. Affordable and appropriate access to finance is an important issue not only for start-ups and growing companies, but also for existing ones, expanding their operations or staying competitive in their markets. Easy, burden-free access to finance is therefore a crucial political goal, especially benefitting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with their specific finance needs, due to their shares in terms of number of enterprises, turnover and employment in the business economy.
To shed light on these issues Eurostat, in consultation with its users for business statistics, i.e., Commission policy departments, the OECD, the EIF and the ECB, has coordinated a business survey to obtain information on the access to finance of small and medium-sized enterprises (10 to 249 persons employed – thus excluding micro-enterprises, for burden reasons and in order not to create a bias towards businesses that may mainly finance themselves internally). Data on reference years 2007 and 2010 plus an outlook of businesses what to expect for the years 2011 to 2013 were obtained and can be broken down by NACE and by type of firm: high-growth, gazelle, and other SMEs.
Main statistical findings
- Seeking finance - more than 80 % of companies did not seek finance of any type in 2007 and 2010. However, a significant increase of finance need is perceived for the next three years, offering the choice for policy makers to provide for appropriate measures.
- Finance types sought - over the period from 2007 to 2013 the loans remain the most desired finance type.
- Finance types sought - over the period from 2007 to 2013, loans remain the most requested finance type.
- Success rate in obtaining finance – comparing 2010 with 2007, the success rate severely decreased, indicating a credit crunch.
- Reason for partially successful or unsuccessful in obtaining loan finance - according to the bank's opinion loan seekers lacked own capital, and in the opinion of the loan seekers, interest rates were too high.
- Reason for choosing a particular bank for a loan - ‘Being already a client’ was the main reported reason for 2007 as well as for 2010.
- Guarantee need and guarantor types in obtaining loan finance – there is rarely need of a guarantee in obtaining loan finance.
- Perception of the changes between 2007 and 2010 – on average, 35% of all surveyed companies considered the financial situation of the business unchanged between the two reference points – yet the success rates for finance sought severely declined.
- Envisaged finance sources between 2011 and 2013 - the most envisaged finance source remains to be banks.
- The most important factors limiting business growth between 2011 and 2013 – despite an optimistic view on future access to finance, companies cited the general economic outlook as the most likely factor limiting business growth.
Data sources and availability
Data on Access to finance survey were collected through interviewing a representative sample of enterprises by the National Statistical Institutes (NSI) in 20 EU Member States (Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom).
The statistical survey was carried out per a common questionnaire used by all participating countries. Many countries introduced additional questions and/or made some changes to the existing questions, without deviating from the substance of the issues.
The scope of the data collection shall be enterprises in the non-financial business economy that fits all of the following characteristics:
- Classified to NACE Rev 2 codes B to N, but not to code K (financial services);
- Independent, that is not a subsidiary of another business, either in the same member state or foreign;
- Has existed at least since 2005;
- Had between 10 and 249 persons employed in 2005;
- Active in 2008;
- Has at least 10 persons employed at the reference period.
Context
Access to finance is crucial to business success and an important factor for economic growth in Europe following the economic crisis in 2007. The purpose of this survey is to examine where there may be constraints on the availability of finance, and how those may be changing; the need for finance (loans, equity and other) in the future, for example to promote growth, and the sources from which businesses would wish to obtain this finance.
Data are collected under Regulation 97/2009 of 2 February 2009. Regulation 295/2008 made provision for a flexible module “for the conduct of a specific and limited ad hoc data collection of enterprise characteristics”.
Further Eurostat information
Publications
Press release.
Main tables
- Title(s) of second level folder (if any)
- Title(s) of third level folder (if any)
Database
- Title(s) of second level folder (if any)
- Title(s) of third level folder (if any)
Dedicated section
- Special SBS topics
- Access to finance
Methodology / Metadata
- Name of the destination ESMS metadata file (ESMS metadata file - ESMS code, e.g. bop_fats_esms)
Source data for tables, figures and maps on this page (MS Excel)
Other information
Questionnaire;
Methodology