Since 2020, the global economy has been hit by a series of shocks, with strong impacts for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) which make up the vast majority of the business population. The COVID-19 crisis was followed by a surge in inflation. This inflation impacted SMEs in particular, as they have limited ability to pass the increase in input costs to customers without losing competitiveness. The steep increase in policy interest rates in most countries around the world and the tighter lending environment have also impacted the cost and access to finance for SMEs, which traditionally rely on debt to finance operations and investments.

Financing SMEs and Entrepreneurs 2024: An OECD Scoreboard provides a comprehensive framework for policymakers and other stakeholders to monitor access to finance by SMEs and entrepreneurs. It also constitutes a valuable tool to support the design and evaluation of policy measures and to monitor the implications of financial reforms on access to finance and financing conditions for SMEs more generally.

SME and entrepreneurship financing trends are monitored through core indicators, listed in Table 1, selected on the criteria of usefulness, availability, feasibility and timeliness (see the Annex for a detailed description). In detail, the core indicators describe and monitor the following key dimensions:

Financing SMEs and Entrepreneurs 2024: An OECD Scoreboard provides information on SME financing trends and policies for nearly 50 countries through the end of 2022, including indicators on debt, equity, and financing conditions, as well as enterprise distress data. Data for 2022 are complemented by information available for 2023, along with demand-side information and recent developments in public policy and private initiatives to support SME finance. Taken together, these indicators form a comprehensive framework for policymakers and other stakeholders to evaluate the financing needs of SMEs. The Scoreboard also constitutes a valuable tool to support the design and evaluation of policy measures and to monitor the implications of financial reforms on access to finance and financing conditions for SMEs over time.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), there were 2,565,367 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Australia in 2021-22. SMEs account for 99.8% of all enterprises in Australia and employed more than 8.1 million people in 2021-22, which equates to around 66% of employment in the private sector.

Financing SMEs and Entrepreneurs: An OECD Scoreboard provides a framework to monitor trends in SMEs’ and entrepreneurs’ access to finance and supports the formulation and evaluation of policies in this domain.