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

As in many EU countries, SMEs contribute substantially to Austria’s economy. In 2021, 99.8% of all firms were SMEs, employing approximately 66% of the labour force. The capital structure of SMEs in Austria is traditionally biased towards debt financing, and limitations on access to risk-finance are still apparent. Bank lending is therefore an important factor affecting the availability of external financing for SMEs. However, access to finance is generally not a major concern for Austrian SMEs.

In 2022, SMEs dominated the business enterprise landscape in Belgium, accounting for 99.8% of all firms.

Micro and small enterprises (MSEs) form an essential part of the Brazilian economy, accounting for 93.7% of all legally constituted companies (20.3 million) according to the Enterprise Map as of December 2023.

In 2022, Canadian small businesses establishments (1-99 employees) constituted 98% of all businesses. Small businesses employed 6.6 million individuals at the enterprise level, or 41.1% of the private sector labour force.

In general, as of September 2023, inflation has continued to fall, although it remains high, in a context where activity and demand have continued to advance in their adjustment process, cost pressures have been reduced and two-year inflation expectations stand at 3%.

Access to finance is one of the main elements for strengthening and keeping entrepreneurships and micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) growing, allowing them to invest in order to increase their productivity, competitiveness and consolidation in the market. In times of economic distress, obstacles to access formal financing sources, significantly limit MSMEs’ ability to invest in upgrading their operations or in innovation, as they are required to have liquidity buffers to face economic uncertainty.

In 2021, there were roughly 1.23 million active enterprises in the Czech Republic. 99.86% of these firms were SMEs with less than 250 employees each. Micro-firms dominated the business landscape, comprising 96 % of all SMEs in 2022. The total number of SME employees decreased by 36 thousand in 2020 compared to 2019 and remained constant in 2021. Given the situation caused by the coronavirus epidemic, this decrease can be considered moderate.

In 2021, not counting non-employer enterprises, SMEs accounted for 98.7% of all enterprises and 38.7% of all full-time employees in Denmark.

In 2021, Estonian SMEs employed 81% of the workforce. In 2020 they accounted for 80.5% of total value added, and in 2021 for 82.1% of total value added. In 2021, 94% of all enterprises were micro-enterprises, i.e. companies with less than 10 employees. Micro-enterprises employed 31.7% of the workforce and accounted for 31.5% of total value added in 2021.

The Finnish economy had seen five years of continuous growth before the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic and the uncertainty in the global economy resulted in a recession in Finland as GDP declined 2.9% in 2020. The growth rate has gradually recovered since, being 3.0% in 2021 and 2.1% in 2022.

France has approximately 4.2 million small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which account for 99.9% of the total business population. The total number of firms has increased by 7.7% between 2020 and 2022.

As of June 2023, 99.7% of active enterprises in Georgia were SMEs According to the methodology introduced by the Georgian National Statistics Office in 2016 to gather statistics on the country’s SMEs and in pursuant of the National Strategy of SME development. . In 2022 SMEs accounted for 60.1% of business sector employment, 34.5% of business sector turnover and 51.4% of output in the business sector.

German SMEs have felt the burden of the pandemic, but generally they have come through the crisis years with few bruises. Rapid adjustments to business models and, above all, strong growth in digital sales of products and services have often proved to be lifesaver and prevented worse outcomes (KfW, 2021[1]).

During 2021 and 2022, economic activity rebounded significantly, covering most of the lost ground from the pandemic shock. Real GDP increased by 8.4% in 2021 after shrinking by around 9% in 2020. This strong growth trend continued in 2022 during which real GDP grew by 5.9%. This is mainly due to private consumption, a significant increase in investments and the recovery of tourism. The uptick in investments in 2022 is related to a significant increase in new business lending, which almost doubled in 2022 after a decade of relatively low volume and a decrease of 26.8% in 2021 vis-à-vis 2020. Still, new lending to SMEs grew proportionally less, by 35%, compared to an impressive 87% increase in new loans for all firms’ sizes. As a result, the share of SMEs in new loans dropped to 20.5%, down from 28.3% in 2021.

According to the preliminary data of the Hungarian Central Statistical Office, at the end of 2021, 892 106 enterprises operated in Hungary, 99,89% of which (891 137 enterprises) qualified as SMEs. Hungarian SMEs make up 75% of the total employment and generate61% of the value added.

SMEs accounted for 99.8% of all active enterprises in Ireland in 2021. They also accounted for 60.1% of total persons employed. Over half of all SMEs (55.9%) in the Irish business economy in 2020 were in the services sector.

As of 2022, there were 660 thousand businesses in Israel, 99.5% of which were SMEs (i.e., companies employing up to 100 workers). In an average year, 55 000-60 000 businesses are created and about 40 000 closed down formally with other 5,000-10,000 which became 'silent' businesses, waiting for economic or personal development. In 2021, 64 825 new companies were established and 40 192 were closed. Removal of government support measures might result in many enterprises shutting down in the post-crisis period. In 2022 the record was broken with 71 006 new businesses according to the CBS. Central Bureau of Statistic, Business demography, 2023, table 4.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) form the backbone of the business community, accounting for a large share of value added and employment.

Japanese SMEs accounted for 99.7% of all businesses and employed 33 million individuals, approximately 69.7% of the private sector labour force in 2021.

In 2022, SMEs made up 96.9% of all businesses in Kazakhstan. The share of people employed by SMEs was 45.8% of the total employed population. SMEs contributed 36.5% to the country’s GDP that same year.

In 2022, the Korean economy experienced weakened growth attributed to sluggish exports and external challenges despite improved domestic consumption. In 2023, the economic outlook predicted a continued slowdown due to global economic challenges, rising market interest rates, and the need for cautious macroeconomic policies and financial stability measures, especially concerning potential defaults in real estate and corporate debt.

Latvia had been experiencing stable economic growth rates exceeding the EU average until the COVID-19 pandemic. From 2013 to 2019, GDP grew by 2.9% per year on average.

Continued high inflation, tightening financing conditions and deteriorating trade prospects are slowing down Lithuania’s economic growth. With high inflation constraining consumption both in Lithuania and in export markets, the number of Lithuanian firms facing insufficient demand rose slightly in 2022, mostly in the trade and industrial sectors.

According to the latest available data, SMEs (firms that employ less than 250 employees) accounted for 99.5% of all non-financial firms in Luxembourg in 2020. SMEs employed approximately 66% of the labour force and generated 59% of the economy’s total value added.

Over the years, there have been various initiatives implemented to enhance the MSME financing ecosystem in Malaysia. Access to finance is a critical enabler for MSMEs to start operations, invest and grow, withstand shocks, transition to the sustainable and digital economy and participate in the supply chains. In 2022, total financing outstanding and approvals to support MSME relief and recovery exceeded that of 2021. MSME outstanding loans stood at RM 355 billion in 2022 compared to RM 320 billion in 2021. While the share of MSME lending in proportion to business loans has risen to reach 48% in 2022 from 45% in 2021. Banking institutions remain the main source of financing for MSMEs, providing more than 90% of total financing.

In Mexico, approximately 29.6% of the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) had access to finance from any source between 2019 and 2021, according to the National Survey of Enterprise Financing (ENAFIN) 2021, conducted by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI), which is representative of a sample framework of 266 270 MSMEs of 6 workers or more.

The Dutch economy recovered quickly after the initial effects of the COVID-19 crisis, however, in 2022 and 2023, SMEs were challenged by the consequences of the large-scale aggression of Russia against Ukraine and the widespread effect of inflation. Despite these challenges, the need for external financing from SMEs has gradually decreased during recent years. Some trends have continued with banks being still the main channel for SME financing, although their share is becoming relatively smaller compared to alternative sources of financing.

In 2019, New Zealand was ranked as the number one countryhttps://data.worldbank.org/indicator/IC.BUS.EASE.XQ?locations=NZ in the world for ease of doing business as recognized by the World Bank. As a small open economy, with a population of 5 million, SMEs play a significant role in the New Zealand economy.

98% of all firms in Norway employ between 1 to 50 people. The SME definition in Norway differs from the definition in use in most EU countries. To contribute to cross-country comparison and make the Scoreboard indicators also relevant to Norway, Statistics Norway used firms with less than 250 as well as those with less than 50 employees to analyse the Norwegian SME population along the indicators covered in the OECD Scoreboard.

In China, SMEs play a key role in maintaining the economic dynamism and boosting innovation and entrepreneurship. SMEs contribute approximately 50% of tax revenue, 60% of GDP, 70% of technological innovation, and 80% of urban employment. In 2022, there were about 52 million SMEs in China, and the number of newly registered enterprises reached an average of 23 800 per day.

In 2022, Peru's economy grew by 2.7%, primarily driven by private consumption, leading to the expansion of the commerce and services sectors. However, the country faced challenges such as increased financing costs, inflation, and social unrest. Looking ahead to 2023, SMEs and entrepreneurs are projected to encounter similar challenges. The business environment could be further complicated by both social conflicts and climate-related issues.

For the last three years, the Polish economy, as is the case with the European and global economy, has been strongly affected by the effects of the pandemic and the Russian aggression against Ukraine. Global turmoil and the energy crisis provoked by Russia have increased inflation around the world, especially in Europe, which had a significant impact on SMEs.

In 2021, SMEs comprised 99.9% of enterprises in Portugal, employed 71.5% of the labour force and were responsible for 56.8% of the turnover and 66.8% in total investment, including large and non-financial enterprises.

SMEs dominate the Serbian business economy, accounting for 99% of all enterprises. In 2022, SMEs employed more than 64% of the labour force and accounted for 60% of total gross value added and for 65.6% of turnover. Sector-specific data indicates that most SMEs belong to the trade sector (22.9%), followed by the manufacturing sector (14.7%), professional, scientific and innovative activities (14%), and transportation and storage (9.8%).

SMEs still dominate the Slovak economy, accounting for 99.6% of the business population (excluding self-employed individuals). The number of SMEs increased by 3.9% in 2022, and micro-enterprises accounted for a considerable portion of this growth, growing by 4.2% year-on-year.

SMEs represent most of all business entities (99.8% of all of them), of which 90.8% are micro enterprises. In 2022, SMEs contributed 66.9% to the added value of the economy and employed 73.3% of all employees in Slovenia.

In 2022, the GDP of the Spanish economy grew strongly, by 5.8%, reaching pre-pandemic levels in 2022 Q3. The economy showed a strong recovery during the first semester but decelerated afterwards as the reopening effects from the pandemic vanished and in the face of extraordinary events such as the large-scale aggression of Russia against Ukraine which exacerbated the rise in commodity prices. The rise in inflation was intense and persistent. After reaching a peak in the summer, the rate of headline consumer price variation began to decline, but core inflation remained high. The ECB’s monetary policy tightening was sharp by historical standards, and financial conditions for companies became more restrictive.

SMEs' dominance in the Swedish business landscape, with 99% representation, underscores their crucial role in the economy, but the contrasting value-added contributions between micro and large enterprises reveal an intricate economic structure where size significantly matters.

Only 0.3% of all Swiss enterprises are large, and SMEs continue to dominate the enterprise landscape, constituting 99.7% of all firms.

In 2022, there were approximately 3.19 million SMEs in Thailand, which constituted 99.5% of all enterprises.

SME lending grew sharply, by 88.6%, in 2021-2022 period. In the same period, the share of outstanding SME loans in outstanding total business loans rose to 33.6%, below the Scoreboard median (47%).

Since the start of Russia's full-scale military invasion of Ukraine, Ukraine’s economy has been operating in the face of unprecedented security challenges. The aggressor state has focused considerable efforts on the purposeful destruction of energy, transport and other critical infrastructure, production capacities of individual enterprises. Direct and indirect economic losses from destruction have already estimated by hundreds of billions of dollars and continue to grow daily.

The developments in SME finance markets in the United Kingdom in 2022 reflected the difficulties faced by the global economy. While the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic waned, major challenges emerged that affected the use of finance by SMEs. In particular, the large-scale aggression of Russia against Ukraine contributed to a sharp rise in input costs. This subsequently led to a large rise in the inflation rate which, in turn, resulted in the Bank of England (BoE) raising the Bank Rate. The war also increased uncertainty about the outlook for the UK and other major economies.

The U.S. economy in 2022 continued to navigate an unprecedented global pandemic and weathered an additional price shock to energy and food caused by the large-scale aggression of Russia against Ukraine. Despite these and other challenges, the economy remained resilient with moderate output growth, strong employment growth, and inflation that peaked and then started to moderate late in the year.