The peer-to-peer (P2P) market volumes for the first 8 months of this year are comparable to the GDP of the Maldives and Fiji, according to an update from Croatian P2P lender Robo.cash.
The number of P2P investors is reportedly greater than the population of 52 countries across the globe. Analysts from the European investment platform Robo.cash have shared important facts or observations about the P2P market for “a deeper understanding” of its scale.
Robo.cash analysts have revealed:
- From January to August 2021, all the platforms “funded 3.3 billion euro (USD 3.9 billion) in loans.” According to WorldBank, “30 out of 176 countries in the world had lower GDP in 2020.” Thus, the P2P market can be “compared with the economies of entire countries, for example, the Maldives or Fiji, whose GDP in 2020 amounted to about € 3.4 billion.”
- The average monthly growth rate of the financed loans volume on platforms “was 9.5% in 2021.” Such an increase was “observed in the Amazon shares in 2020, when during the lockdown the popularity of online stores grew and people began to use their services more and more actively.”
- The European P2P market “issues loans to individuals and companies in more than 46 countries around the world.” The spread of loans through European P2P platforms “is comparable to the distribution of IKEA products in the world.”
- There are “over 100 platforms in the European P2P market, operating on the consumer and business segment.” Now this figure is “comparable to the growing market of neobanks in Europe (there are 75 of them as of September).”
- At the end of August, there were “at least 682,000 P2P investors.” The value was “calculated based on statistics of active and registered investors on all platforms reviewed.” The number of European P2P investors “is equal to the entire population of Montenegro or the population of Malta and Iceland together.” Moreover, this number is “higher than the population in 52 countries of the world (according to WorldBank data for 2020).” This speaks of “a wide coverage of investors, and the growing attractiveness of P2P loans as an investment asset.”
- As of August, the average deposit on Robo.cash platform “is 3,800 euros.” This is the amount that four average Americans “spend on fast food a year (as of 2019).” Covering such seemingly ordinary costs through investments “can be a small step towards financial freedom.”
The Robo.cash team further noted that investors receive around 10% of income per year. Taking into account the average deposit on the market of 4,100 euros, one average investor “gets 577 euros per year.”
For this amount, you are able to “rent an apartment in Cyprus for a month (400 euros in Limassol), or pay half the cost of an iPhone13 (or just buy an iPhone11).” Also, with 577 euros, you can “donate to charity and provide a place at the shelter with three meals a day throughout the year (about 38 USD or 32 euros are spent on one child per month).”
The Robo.cash team also mentioned that “spending such a small amount wisely, you can help people, make yourself happy with a small trip and new purchase or multiply your investments in order to get even more income in the future.”
They concluded:
“The European P2P market (business and consumer segment) is not difficult-to-perceive, but a quite tangible and impressive industry. The market is large enough financially to be compared with the economies of the countries of the world. It is quite accessible, since the average investment is on a par with the average monthly salary or the cost of fast food, nonetheless it remains to be a profitable asset of investment.”