The annual White Clarke Group – Global Leasing Report, which is produced in association with the World Leasing Yearbook, is the definitive guide to the world’s top 50 leasing markets. Marking its 40th anniversary this year, the report is the leading analysis of country trading environments and trends in auto and equipment finance.

Brendan Gleeson, Group CEO at White Clarke Group, reviews the key market developments.

The top 50 countries in 2017 reported growth in new business volume of 16.6 percent, rising from $1,099.77 billion in 2016 to a remarkable $1,282.73 billion in 2017. Three regions, North America, Europe and Asia, account for more than 95 percent of world volume. New business volume exceeded the previous year’s global total by $182.96 billion.

North America (U.S., Canada and Mexico) remains the largest regional leasing market with new business volume of $445.9 billion, representing 34.8 percent of the total global market share.
 
The US is also the largest national leasing market, with annual volume of $410.3 billion, a rise of 6.9 percent year-on-year.

However, rapid growth in other regions means North America’s share of the global market has declined by 3.1 percentage points. Europe’s market share grew 1.9 percentage points, following a rise in annual volume of 32.7 percent to $428.3 billion, and Asia’s market share was up 1.3 percentage points, as volume increased 58.9 percent in 2017 to $354.4 billion.

China is the second-largest market and has delivered strong growth for leasing, with volume up more than 20 percent to $265.68 billion, even though overall leasing penetration is low at 6.8 percent, compared to 21.6 percent in the U.S. and 32.4 percent for the UK, which is in third-place, with leasing volumes of $92.45 billion.

Germany, the fourth-largest market, rose 7.29 percent over the year to annual volume of $78.32 billion, while Japan, the fifth-largest leasing market, fell 2 percent to $60.47 billion. In France, the sixth-largest market, volumes grew nearly 9 percent to $49.78 billion.
 
Other global regions account for a fraction of the market; Australia/New Zealand grew 0.9 percent in 2017, with leasing volumes of $31.5 billion, while South America grew 23.2 percent year-on-year, but from a relatively low base to $17 billion. Volumes declined in Africa by nearly 16 percent to $5.7 billion.

“Most of the top 20 countries, except Japan, reported growth in new business levels in 2017. This creates confidence about the future and suggests promising prospects for leasing markets in 2018.

The White Clarke Group Global Leasing Report features data on international leasing volume and growth by region, market penetration, GDP penetration ratios and market shares as well as a unique ranking of the top 50 leasing markets by size.

The report can be downloaded here.