Bank loans to the smallest enterprises in the EU have fallen by 37% since 2011.

Omissions

• No source was found providing an EU-wide figure of a 37% decline in bank loans to the smallest enterprises since 2011; the claim cites no source.
• The nearest related data found concerns Italy only (First Cisl: -32% over 10 years; Confartigianato Veneto: small-firm loans halved in 12 years), not the European Union, and the Italian figures do not match 37%.
• One Italian source found uses a different metric involving '37' (Unimpresa: business loans fell by 37 billion euros in 2017), which is a value in euros, not a 37% decline.
• The ECB SAFE survey results retrieved cover firms' perceptions of bank loan availability (a net 2% reported declining availability in early 2025), not the stock of SME lending since 2011, and therefore cannot confirm the 37% figure.
• Two independent sources or one primary source confirming the claim could not be found.

Sources

• PrimaryEuropean Central Bank — Survey on the Access to Finance of Enterprises (SAFE)The net percentage of firms reporting a decline in the availability of bank loans was 2%, compared with a net 1% reporting an improvement... (ECB SAFE survey on firms' perception of bank loan availability, not a measure of the stock of SME lending since 2011).
• SecondarySardegna Impresa (citing First Cisl)In dieci anni il credito concesso dalle banche alle piccole imprese è crollato del 32%. Lo rileva la First Cisl... (Italian small-enterprise bank credit fell 32% in ten years, according to First Cisl).
• SecondaryConfartigianato VenetoPrestiti alle piccole imprese in caduta libera: -7,2% in un anno, -27,3% in 5 anni, dimezzati in 12 anni. (Loans to small enterprises in free fall: -7.2% in one year, -27.3% in 5 years, halved in 12 years — Veneto, Italy).
• SecondaryUnimpresaBanche: Unimpresa, prestiti aziende crollati di 37 miliardi in 2017... (Unimpresa: business loans fell by 37 billion euros in 2017 — a euro-amount, not a 37% decline since 2011).