Leasing refers to a contractual arrangement where one party (the lessor) grants another party (the lessee) temporary rights to use an asset in exchange for periodic payments. It is used by businesses and individuals who want to access equipment, vehicles, software, or other assets. Leasing is typically entered when users require flexibility, lower capital expenditure and asset management support. The service is widely used across industries such as automotive, manufacturing and media, as well as by consumers for personal asset use.
The leasing market consists of sales of leasing services by entities (organizations, sole traders and partnerships) that provide a wide variety of tangible goods such as consumer goods, industrial machinery and equipment, automobiles and others for use and assign intangible assets such as trademarks to customers in return for a periodic rental or lease payment.
The global leasing market was valued at $1,219,966.7 million in 2020 which grew till 2025 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 10.00%.
Expansion Of Small And Medium Enterprises (SMEs) And Startups
During the historic period, the leasing market was significantly driven by the expansion of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and startups. As entrepreneurial activity increased and a larger number of small businesses and startups entered the market, the need for cost-effective asset acquisition and flexible financing solutions grew, leading to higher adoption of leasing services among resource-constrained enterprises. For instance, in 2025, data published by the UK Parliament Commons Library, a UK-based government research organization, reported that there were 5.7 million SMEs in the United Kingdom, including 5.4 million micro businesses, accounting for 99.9% of all businesses, with 95% being micro enterprises. Additionally, in 2024, data published by the UK Government, a United Kingdom-based government authority, reported that the number of SMEs increased by 1.0 million (23%) since 2010, including an increase of 201,000 SME employers (16%), highlighting sustained growth in the small business ecosystem and rising business formation. Therefore, the leasing market was significantly driven by the expansion of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and startups during the historic period.
Impact of Interest Rate Fluctuations
Interest rate movements have a direct and profound impact on the leasing market, as leasing is inherently dependent on financing structures and cost of capital. When interest rates rise, the cost of borrowing for leasing companies increases, leading to higher lease rates for customers and potentially reduced demand, particularly in price-sensitive segments such as SMEs and consumer leasing. Higher rates also tighten credit availability, making risk assessment more stringent and reducing approval volumes. Conversely, declining interest rates lower financing costs, making leasing more attractive compared to outright purchases or loans, thereby stimulating demand across sectors such as automotive, equipment, and real estate leasing. However, prolonged low-rate environments can compress margins for leasing providers due to competitive pricing pressures. For example, in April 2026, Deutsche Bank AG, a Germany-based multinational investment bank, indicated that the U.S. Federal Reserve was likely to maintain its benchmark interest rate within the 3.50%-3.75% range throughout 2026. Elevated interest rates raise borrowing costs for leasing companies, which are typically transferred to customers through higher lease payments and more stringent financing conditions. This can weaken affordability for both businesses and consumers, thereby dampening demand for vehicle and equipment leasing. Consequently, sustained high interest rates may continue to exert pressure on leasing volumes and overall profitability.
The global leasing market is fragmented, with large number of small players operating in the market. The top 10 competitors in the market made up 6.478% of the total market in 2024.
Leasing Global Market Opportunities And Strategies To 2035 from The Business Research Company provides the strategists; marketers and senior management with the critical information they need to assess the global leasing market.
Reasons to Purchase
- Gain a truly global perspective with the most comprehensive report available on this market covering 51 geographies.
- Understand how the market is evolving with growth in the number of listed companies, greater focus on ESG and sustainability positioning, increased focus on broadening shareholder base and rising frequency of M&A and corporate restructuring.
- Create regional and country strategies on the basis of local data and analysis.
- Identify growth segments for investment.
- Outperform competitors using forecast data and the drivers and trends shaping the market.
- Understand customers based on the latest market research findings.
- Benchmark performance against key competitors.
- Utilize the relationships between key data sets for superior strategizing.
- Suitable for supporting your internal and external presentations with reliable high-quality data and analysis.
Where is the largest and fastest-growing market for leasing? How does the market relate to the overall economy; demography and other similar markets? What forces will shape the market going forward? The leasing market global report from The Business Research Company answers all these questions and many more.
The report covers market characteristics; size and growth; segmentation; regional and country breakdowns; competitive landscape; market shares; trends and strategies for this market. It traces the market's history and forecasts market growth by geography. It places the market within the context of the wider leasing market; and compares it with other markets.
The report covers the following chapters
- Introduction and Market Characteristics - Brief introduction to the segmentations covered in the market, definitions and explanations about the segment by type, by mode and by lease type.
- Key Trends - Highlights the major trends shaping the global market. This section also highlights likely future developments in the market.
- Growth Analysis And Strategic Analysis Framework - Analysis on PESTEL, end use industries, market growth rate, global historic (2020-2025) and forecast (2025-2030, 2035F) market values and drivers and restraints that support and control the growth of the market in the historic and forecast periods, forecast growth contributors and total addressable market (TAM).
- Global Market Size And Growth: - Global historic (2020-2025) and forecast (2025-2030, 2035F) market values and drivers and restraints that support and control the growth of the market in the historic and forecast periods.
- Regional And Country Analysis: - Historic (2020-2025) and forecast (2025-2030, 2035F) market values and growth and market share comparison by region and country.
- Market Segmentation: - Contains the market values (2020-2025) (2025-2030, 2035F) and analysis for each segment by type, by mode and by lease type in the market. Historic (2020-2025) and forecast (2025-2030) and (2030-2035) market values and growth and market share comparison by region market.
- Regional Market Size And Growth: - Regional market size (2025), historic (2020-2025) and forecast (2025-2030, 2035F) market values and growth and market share comparison of countries within the region. This report includes information on all the regions Asia-Pacific, South East Asia, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, North America, South America, Middle East and Africa and major countries within each region.
- Competitive Landscape: - Details on the competitive landscape of the market, estimated market shares and company profiles of the leading players.
- Other Major And Innovative Companies: - Details on the company profiles of other major and innovative companies in the market.
- Competitive Benchmarking: - Briefs on the financials comparison between major players in the market.
- Competitive Dashboard: - Briefs on competitive dashboard of major players.
- Key Mergers And Acquisitions: - Information on recent mergers and acquisitions in the market covered in the report. This section gives key financial details of mergers and acquisitions, which have shaped the market in recent years.
- Recent Developments: - Information on recent developments in the market covered in the report.
- Market Opportunities And Strategies: Describes market opportunities and strategies based on findings of the research, with information on growth opportunities across countries, segments and strategies to be followed in those markets.
- Conclusions And Recommendations: This section includes recommendations for leasing providers in terms of product/service offerings geographic expansion, marketing strategies and target groups.
- Appendix: - This section includes details on the NAICS codes covered, abbreviations and currencies codes used in this report.
Markets Covered:
- 1) By Type: Automotive Equipment Leasing; Consumer Goods And General Rental Centers; Machinery Leasing; Lessors Of Nonfinancial Intangible Assets
- 2) By Mode: Online; Offline
- 3) By Lease Type: Closed-Ended Lease; Option To Buy Lease; Sub-Vented Lease; Other Lease Types
- Companies Mentioned: Volkswagen Leasing GmbH; Mercedes-Benz AG; United Rentals Inc.; Ayvens (ALD Automotive); Ashtead Group
- Countries: China; Australia; India; Japan; South Korea; Taiwan; Bangladesh; Indonesia; Thailand; Vietnam; Malaysia; Singapore; Philippines; Hong Kong; New Zealand; USA; Canada; Mexico; UK; Germany; France; Italy; Spain; Austria; Belgium; Denmark; Finland; Ireland; Netherlands; Norway; Portugal; Sweden; Switzerland; Brazil; Chile; Argentina; Colombia; Peru; Russia; Czech Republic; Poland; Romania; Ukraine; Saudi Arabia; Israel; Iran; Turkey; UAE; Egypt; Nigeria; South Africa
- Regions: Asia-Pacific; South East Asia; Western Europe; Eastern Europe; North America; South America; Middle East; Africa
- Time-series: Five years historic and ten years forecast.
- Data: Ratios of market size and growth to related markets; GDP proportions; expenditure per capita; leasing indicators comparison.
- Data segmentations: country and regional historic and forecast data; market share of competitors; market segments.
- Sourcing and Referencing: Data and analysis throughout the report is sourced using end notes.