NZ Business Lending Market — Where to Find Current Data
A guide to the authoritative public-data sources for the New Zealand business-lending market — sized, trended, and segmented — so you can make decisions on real numbers, not summary copy.
Why this page exists
Earlier versions of this page summarised the NZ business-lending market with specific dollar and percentage figures. Those summaries were neither sourced nor maintained, and lending content needs to be accurate. We've replaced them with pointers to the official series — each updated quarterly or monthly by the agency that owns the data.
Authoritative data sources
Reserve Bank of NZ — Statistics
The RBNZ publishes the canonical sector-lending series. The most relevant tables for SME credit are S40 (Bank lending) and S41 (Non-bank lending institutions). Use these for total outstanding business credit, sector breakdown, and bank vs non-bank split. Updated monthly.
MBIE — Small Business research
MBIE publishes periodic small-business reports including access-to-finance surveys, regional breakdowns, and policy-relevant statistics. Less frequent updates than RBNZ but covers questions RBNZ doesn't: SME approval rates, application experience, regional disparities.
Stats NZ — Business Operations Survey + Business Demography
For market-context numbers like number of NZ businesses, employment by industry, and business births/deaths. The Business Operations Survey carries an "Access to finance" module in some years.
NZBN Register
The Companies Office NZBN register confirms whether a lender or broker is a real registered NZ entity, with directors and shareholders public. Useful for verifying any lender claim before applying.
FMA — Financial Service Providers Register
The FMA register confirms FSP licence numbers and FAP status. SMELoans.co.nz is operated by Evolve Group Limited (FSP711891). Always verify the FSP number on the register before sharing personal information with any financial-services provider.
What we will and won't tell you on this site
✓ What we'll tell you
- Which of our partner lenders accept your business profile
- Which loan products exist (term loans, equipment finance, working capital, invoice finance)
- Indicative rate ranges at the time of your enquiry, taken from current lender pricing
- Where to verify a lender's NZBN, FSP licence and FMA status
✗ What we won't tell you
- "The market is $XX.X billion" without a sourced citation
- "Bank approval rate is N%" without an MBIE / RBNZ reference
- Personalised advice on which product is right for your situation (that's a regulated FAP service — talk to a licensed adviser)
- Forecasts of where rates "will" be in 12 months — nobody knows; check the latest RBNZ Monetary Policy Statement
Need actual lender comparison?
Skip the market-report theatre. Tell us what you need and we'll show you which of our partner lenders are a fit.
Compare Now (free)