SME lending statistics: how much small and medium businesses borrow in Australia

Lending outstanding to small businesses was $208.0 billion at 30 June 2026, while medium businesses had $584.9 billion outstanding, bringing combined SME lending to $792.8 billion, according to the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) Lending to Business data.¹ Lending outstanding to large businesses was $820.6 billion, taking total business lending at the reporting lenders to $1,613.4 billion. The reporting lenders are the banks and registered financial corporations with $2 billion or more of business credit that report to the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) and the RBA.

Of the total, small businesses accounted for 12.9% of business lending outstanding at the reporting lenders, medium businesses accounted for 36.2% and large businesses accounted for 50.9%.¹

Before April 2023, all reporting lenders applied common size definitions. Small businesses had lender exposure below $1 million and turnover below $50 million, while medium businesses had exposure of $1 million or more and turnover below $50 million. Businesses with turnover of $50 million or more were classified as large.¹

Banks using APRA-approved internal credit risk models adopted the definitions in APRA's prudential standards APS 112 and APS 113 in April 2023, and all other reporting lenders followed in June 2024.¹

The size totals include lending to financial businesses. Excluding this lending, outstanding business finance was $181.9 billion for small businesses, $559.8 billion for medium businesses and $594.6 billion for large businesses, or $1,336.4 billion in total.¹

Rental, hiring and real estate services had the most lending to small and medium businesses, at $248.3 billion at 30 June 2026.⁵ It accounted for 31.4% of the $791.1 billion of SME lending classified by industry. Agriculture, forestry and fishing was next at $128.1 billion, or 16.2%, followed by other services at $57.8 billion. The two largest industries together accounted for $376.4 billion, or 47.6%, of SME lending by industry.

For small businesses alone, the largest amount was also in rental, hiring and real estate services at $41.0 billion. Other services followed at $33.3 billion, then financial and insurance services at $25.8 billion.⁵

SMEs made up 84.5% of lending to agriculture, forestry and fishing and 57.8% of lending to rental, hiring and real estate services at 30 June 2026.⁵ Among industries with more than $20 billion in total business lending, the smallest SME shares were in information media and telecommunications at 10.9%, electricity, gas, water and waste services at 12.5%, and mining at 15.4%.

Financial and insurance services had the most lending to large businesses at $206.9 billion. SMEs accounted for 19.3% of lending to that industry.⁵

Fixed-rate loans made up 28.4% of lending outstanding to small businesses at 30 June 2026, compared with 12.1% for medium businesses and 7.4% for large businesses.¹ For small businesses, this equalled $59.1 billion of the $208.0 billion outstanding. Medium businesses had $70.7 billion of fixed-rate lending outstanding and large businesses had $60.6 billion.

In July 2019, the fixed-rate shares were 34.6% for small businesses, 28.9% for medium businesses and 14.3% for large businesses.¹

Over the year to June 2026, fixed-rate lending to small businesses grew 8.3%, from $54.6 billion to $59.1 billion, and variable-rate lending also grew 8.3%, to $148.9 billion.¹ Fixed-rate lending to medium businesses grew 3.2% over the same period, while fixed-rate lending to large businesses grew 14.1%.

Lending outstanding to small businesses grew 44.0% between July 2019 and June 2026, from $144.4 billion to $208.0 billion, while medium-business lending grew 113.9%, from $273.4 billion to $584.9 billion.¹ These comparisons span changes in business-size definitions in April 2023 and June 2024, so the figures by business size are not fully like for like across the period. Total business lending at the reporting lenders grew 73.1% over the same period, from $932.2 billion to $1,613.4 billion. Lending outstanding to small businesses was lowest in May 2022, at $137.1 billion, and highest in June 2026, at $208.0 billion.

The definition changes moved lending between the size categories without changing the overall total.

In April 2023, lending classified as medium business rose from $337.8 billion to $411.1 billion in a single month, and lending classified as large business fell from $701.7 billion to $625.0 billion.¹ Total business lending rose $10.4 billion in the same month. A second shift occurred in June 2024, when all other reporting lenders adopted the APS definitions. That month, small-business lending rose $5.8 billion, medium-business lending rose $12.9 billion and large-business lending fell $3.3 billion.

The share of business lending in each size category also shifted over the period, and the definition changes mean the shares are not a like-for-like comparison. Small businesses' share of business lending fell from 15.5% in July 2019 to 12.9% in June 2026.¹ Medium businesses' share rose from 29.3% to 36.2%, and large businesses' share fell from 55.2% to 50.9%.