European P2P market hits £6.8bn but UK’s share is falling
THE UK saw its share of the European alternative finance market fall in 2016 as other parts of the continent experienced a boom in volume.
The third annual European Alternative Finance Industry Benchmarking Report by the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF) showed the UK remains the dominant market, making up 73 per cent of lending volume in 2016, but this has fallen from 81 per cent in 2015.
Overall, the European alternative investment market grew by 43 per cent to €7.7bn (£6.8m) during 2016.
But once the UK is taken out, the growth on the continent was up 101 per cent to €2bn euros, the report said on Monday.
After the UK, the top five volume-driving countries were France at €443m, Germany at €321.84m, the Netherlands at €194.19m.
Estonia ranked first for alternative finance volume per capita for the second year in a row, at €63m, followed by Monaco at €51m and Georgia at €28m.
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Peer-to-peer consumer lending accounted for the largest segment of alternative finance in Europe, excluding the UK, taking 34 per cent of the market. Growth in lending volumes rose 90 per cent year-on-year to €697m in 2016.
This is almost double the size of the continent’s P2P business lending market at €350m, followed by invoice trading at €252m.
It follows a purely UK-focused report from the CCAF at the end of last year that showed the biggest segment of alternative finance in 2016 was business lending at £1.24bn, followed by consumer lending at £1.17bn.
“The number of countries in Europe with meaningful alternative finance activity is growing,” Robert Wardrop, director of the CCAF, said.
“The business models and products offered by platforms are evolving and expanding at a rapid pace.”
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