Of 3,000 SMEs surveyed in research commissioned by Leaseurope, some 43% used leasing in 2013, up from 40% in 2010 and this figure was estimated to have risen further to 51% in 2014 – a 19% increase over the previous year.
Of those SMEs who did not lease in 2013, more than a quarter had done so in the past, with 17% of these stating they would use leasing in 2014.
SMEs in the eight countries in the sample financed 19% of their total investment via leasing in 2013, more than any individual form of bank lending – up from 17% in 2010. This compares to a leasing penetration rate of 12% in 2013 (13% in 2010) for businesses of all sizes in the same countries, which implies European SMEs use leasing to finance a greater proportion of their investment than larger businesses, to an even greater extent in 2013 than previously. Micro firms in particular rely on leasing, with 15% of their 2013 investment financed this way compared to 10% in 2010.
