Where Businesses Run on Bank Credit: Working Capital Finance in 145 Economies
Introduction
“Economy” was one of the most-searched terms in the United States on August 6, 2026 — driven by competing claims about how the economy is actually performing. Headline arguments about GDP and jobs rarely settle the question, but there is a more concrete way to measure whether the real economy is functioning: how many businesses can borrow money to keep operating day to day.
The World Bank’s Enterprise Surveys ask registered firms a direct question: do you use bank loans or lines of credit to finance working capital — the money needed for inventory, payroll, and supplier payments before customers pay? Across 145 economies, the share of firms that say yes ranges from 64.5% in Peru (2023) to just 2.1% in Iraq (2022). This report ranks the economies where business runs on bank credit — and the ones where it runs on something else.
For the broader picture of how firms get financed, see our overview of how the world finances business and the explainer on how firms fund their day-to-day operations.
What the indicator measures
The indicator IC.FRM.BKWC.ZS reports the share of registered firms with five or more employees that use bank loans or lines of credit to finance working capital. It is deliberately narrow: it asks about running the business, not growing it. A firm that borrows to buy machinery is counted separately under investment finance — a distinction we explore in our companion piece on how firms borrow to run vs. borrow to grow.
What the working capital share really measures is how deeply the banking system is woven into the ordinary rhythm of business: whether a shop can stock shelves, a factory can buy raw materials, and a contractor can meet payroll without first collecting its own receivables.
Where bank credit keeps business running
| Rank | Economy | Firms using bank loans for working capital | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Peru | 64.5% | 2023 |
| 2 | Kosovo | 61.9% | 2025 |
| 3 | Italy | 61.8% | 2024 |
| 4 | Belgium | 54.9% | 2024 |
| 5 | Israel | 54.1% | 2024 |
| 6 | El Salvador | 49.0% | 2023 |
| 7 | South Korea | 47.9% | 2024 |
| 8 | Mauritius | 47.7% | 2023 |
| 9 | Paraguay | 46.8% | 2023 |
| 10 | Uruguay | 46.1% | 2024 |
| 11 | Ecuador | 45.4% | 2024 |
| 12 | Mexico | 44.9% | 2023 |
| 13 | Spain | 44.5% | 2024 |
| 14 | Central African Republic | 43.5% | 2023 |
| 15 | Malta | 42.3% | 2024 |
| 16 | Finland | 42.0% | 2020 |
| 17 | Slovakia | 41.7% | 2023 |
| 18 | Czechia | 41.4% | 2024 |
| 19 | Benin | 41.4% | 2024 |
| 20 | Kenya | 40.8% | 2025 |
Source: World Bank Enterprise Surveys via World Development Indicators. Survey years vary by economy.
The leaders are an instructive mix. Peru, El Salvador, Paraguay and Mexico show that Latin America’s banking systems are unusually integrated into daily business operations — a pattern we noted in our earlier working capital explainer. Italy, Belgium and Spain reflect deep European credit traditions, while Kenya (40.8%, 2025) stands out as the top-ranked Sub-Saharan African economy.
Where businesses run on their own cash
| Rank | Economy | Firms using bank loans for working capital | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 131 | Nigeria | 8.4% | 2025 |
| 132 | Somalia | 8.4% | 2025 |
| 133 | Tonga | 8.1% | 2024 |
| 134 | DR Congo | 7.0% | 2024 |
| 135 | Saudi Arabia | 6.8% | 2025 |
| 136 | Guinea | 6.8% | 2025 |
| 137 | Turkmenistan | 6.0% | 2024 |
| 138 | Egypt | 5.8% | 2025 |
| 139 | Timor-Leste | 5.3% | 2021 |
| 140 | Angola | 3.9% | 2024 |
| 141 | Qatar | 3.6% | 2025 |
| 142 | Afghanistan | 3.6% | 2025 |
| 143 | Pakistan | 3.5% | 2022 |
| 144 | Chad | 2.6% | 2023 |
| 145 | Iraq | 2.1% | 2022 |
Source: World Bank Enterprise Surveys via World Development Indicators. Survey years vary by economy.
The bottom of the table splits into two very different stories. In Iraq, Afghanistan and Chad, banking systems are too shallow or too disrupted to serve ordinary firms — businesses fund operations from retained earnings, supplier credit, and informal channels. But Qatar (3.6%) and Saudi Arabia (6.8%) are wealthy economies where firms are often self-financed or state-linked, so they simply do not need bank credit for daily operations — even though their banking systems are deep. That contrast is the subject of our companion article on how firms borrow to run vs. borrow to grow.
The middle of the pack
Between the extremes, the largest economies sit closer to the middle. India reports 33.9% (2022), France 34.3% (2021), and Germany 20.2% (2025) — a reminder that in large advanced economies, many firms still finance working capital internally, relying on bank credit mainly for growth. The United States (17.7%, 2024) sits well below the median, while China (26.8%, 2024) and the United Kingdom (22.4%, 2024) occupy similar terrain.
For context on where bank credit runs deepest overall, see our rankings of where bank borrowing runs deepest and where credit runs deepest.
What this means for the economy debate
When politicians argue about the economy, they rarely mention working capital — but it is the plumbing underneath everything else. An economy where half of firms can borrow to cover payroll and inventory is one where a temporary cash squeeze does not become a bankruptcy; an economy where fewer than one firm in ten can do so is one where every disruption to cash flow is existential.
The working capital ranking is not a prosperity ranking: Peru outranks Germany, and Qatar sits near the bottom. It measures something narrower and more specific — how reliant ordinary firms are on the banking system to keep running — which is exactly why it is a useful, if imperfect, gauge of how the real economy functions beneath the headlines.
Sources & method
Data comes from the World Bank Enterprise Surveys, aggregated in the World Development Indicators as IC.FRM.BKWC.ZS (firms using banks to finance working capital). The survey covers registered firms with five or more employees; micro-enterprises and informal firms are excluded, so the indicator tends to overstate bank use relative to the whole business population. Survey years vary by economy — the latest available wave is used (2020–2025 depending on the country), and each figure above cites its actual survey year. Rankings cover 145 economies.
See also our methodology page and the companion pieces referenced throughout: how the world finances business, where firms finance investment, and how firms borrow to run vs. borrow to grow.