Data on small business, small farm, and community development lending during 2020 was released Tuesday by federal banking regulators, fulfilling statutory requirements under federal anti-redlining laws.
The Federal Reserve Board, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC), and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) release the numbers annually under requirements of the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA).
The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) also prepared aggregate disclosure statements of small business and small farm lending for all metropolitan statistical areas and non-metropolitan counties in the United States and its territories, the agency said.
Analysis of the data reported by CRA small business and small farm loan reporters compiled by the FFIEC showed in 2020:
- About 8.4 million small business loans (originations and purchases) totaling nearly $461.8 billion were reported.
- Total loans grew by 9.7%, while the number of loans originated increased by 10.9%, both relative to 2019.
- The dollar amount of small business loans originated increased by 78.7%. The large increase in total number of loans originated, and the especially large increase in the total amount of small business loans originated, was attributed to lending from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), a program established by Congress to keeps workers paid during the coronavirus crisis.
- Regarding small farm loans, the number of originations decreased by about 1.7% and the dollar amount increased by 7.9% in 2020 from 2019.