The ADB trade finance survey quantifies market gaps for trade finance and explores their impact on growth and jobs.

The inability of financial institutions to provide $1.6 trillion to support buyers and sellers of goods across countries resulted in forgone growth and job creation in 2015. Developing Asia’s share of the global trade finance gap was $692 billion.

The 2016 survey also introduced new detail about the impact of financial technology on market gaps, and how woman-led firms are impacted by unmet demand.

Key Points

• The estimated global trade finance gap is $1.6 trillion.
• $692 billion of the gap is in developing Asia (including India and the People’s Republic of China).
• 56% of SME trade finance proposals are rejected, while large corporates face rejection rates of 34% and multinational corporations are rejected only 10% of the time.
• Firms report that 25% more trade finance would enable them to hire 20% more people.
• Woman-owned firms face higher than average rejection rates.
• 70% of surveyed firms are unfamiliar with digital finance, uptake rates highest in peer-to-peer lending.