The LEI in figures: Looking back to 2021 and the adoption boom in Q4.

Significant growth in LEI adoption across Asia in 2021 following increasing regulatory pressure

The Global LEI Foundation (GLEIF) is proud of its ongoing transparency initiatives. In particular, its open approach to providing unrestricted access to the latest LEI data from around the world through the LEI System’s quarterly annual reports, which are made available to the public free of charge. With GLEIFs blog series “LEI in Numbers”, GLEIF aims to highlight the most important data from the latest report, explain trends and showcase the successes of the global LEI roll-out.

The year 2021 showed continued positive momentum in the issuance of LEIs, closing with a total of 1.95 million LEIs. With over 261,000 LEIs issued during the year, representing an annual growth rate of 15.3%, the LEI system is growing at an impressive rate.

The latest report, covering the fourth quarter of 2021, shows that more than 80,000 new LEIs were issued globally during this period – a sharp increase on the 60,000 issued in the third quarter. This represents a quarterly growth rate of 4.3%, up from 3.3% in the previous quarter.

The following infographic summarizes the data from the previous quarter and includes key statistics from Q4 2021, as well as data summarizing progress in 2021 as a whole.

So-called “competitive markets” refer to markets with more than 1,000 LEIs, based on the number of LEI issuers offering services in the jurisdiction. The most competitive markets are those with the most LEI issuers per jurisdiction that have a similar market share and, conversely, the least competitive markets.

In the fourth quarter, China overtook Iceland as the country with the highest LEI growth rate for the quarter, with an impressive 36.5% increase – the largest this year. It was followed by Estonia (22.9%), Iceland (19.3%), India (14.6%) and Turkey (10.1%). The increase in LEIs in China and India can be directly linked to the tightening of regulatory requirements, while the growth in Estonia and Iceland is due to strong competition among LEI issuers.

In the same quarter, the overall renewal rate was 62.5%. While this decrease is slightly lower than in the previous quarter (64.6%), it can be attributed to a lower number of renewals in December – a typical trend for this time of year.

Japan had the highest renewal rate this quarter (91.8%) and consistently ranked in the top two countries for renewals in 2021. Other countries in the top five for the fourth quarter include China (89.3%), Finland (87.6%), Liechtenstein (83.1%) and Germany (82.6%).

The proactive annual renewal of LEIs ensures that the Global LEI Index continues to provide the most accurate and up-to-date data possible. The high LEI issuance and renewal numbers seen again this quarter in a number of regions are further evidence of the maturity and value of the global LEI system. This brings tremendous benefits to both the ecosystem and all users of LEI data who rely on the accuracy of the data to make informed business decisions.

For the full report, which provides more details on the status of LEI issuance and growth potential, the level of competition among LEI issuing organizations in the Global LEI System, and Level 1 and Level 2 reference data, please visit the Global LEI System Annual Reports page.

https://www.gleif.org/en/newsroom/blog/the-lei-in-numbers-reviewing-2021-and-the-q4-adoption-boom