The UK ranked third largest alternative finance market in the world
The UK had the third largest alternative finance market in the world in 2018, according to a global report from the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF).
The report found that China had the largest alternative finance market by volume at $215.37bn (172.29bn), followed by the US at $61bn (£48.8bn) and the UK in third place with $10.4bn (£8.32bn).
The study also revealed that transaction volumes across the global alternative finance industry declined by 27 per cent year-on-year to $304.5bn (243.62bn) in 2018.
However, excluding the Chinese market, which has seen its peer-to-peer lending industry collapse amid fraud scandals, global transaction volumes actually grew by 48 per cent year-on-year to $89bn.
Furthermore, the alternative finance market in Europe grew to new strengths in 2018, with transaction volumes reaching $18bn.
The UK remains the largest player in the European alternative finance industry, but this imbalance is decreasing as the market in other European countries continues to rise.
The Global Alternative Finance Market Benchmarking Report was supported by Invesco, the Inter-American Development Bank, IDB Invest (the private sector institution of the IDB Group) and CME Group.
It collected data from over 1,200 financial technology firms in 180 countries operating crowdfunding, P2P lending and related online capital raising activities.
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“For the first time, we have consolidated our annual regional reports to produce one global benchmarking report, with the intention of presenting world-wide online alternative finance market data and insights for 2018,” said Dr Robert Wardrop, director of the CCAF.
“This global report sheds light on the evolving landscape and market dynamics of the online alternative finance industry which are now providing substantial sources of funding for consumers, start-ups, small and medium-sized enterprises, and industrial verticals ranging from manufacturing sector to creative industries.”
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