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Q1 2021 in review: The LEI in Numbers

Data from the latest Global LEI System Business Report reveals LEI adoption from January to March 2021.


Author: Stephan Wolf

  • Date: 2021-04-21
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Visibility is a core value for the Global LEI Foundation (GLEIF) as we provide transparency and accessibility to all information related to legal entity identification and data services. This is why we make our quarterly Global LEI System Business Report accessible to all, and why we are committed to providing consistent updates on LEI adoption worldwide. These reports are always free of charge and support GLEIF’s aim of providing open, unrestricted access to LEI data on a global scale.

In our latest report, covering Q1 2021, we have seen continued growth within LEI issuance, with 63,000 LEI issued within the quarter, an increase of 1000 from Q4 2020. As a result, the total active LEI population now stands at 1.77 million.

The below infographic contains the key statistics from Q1 2021.

In Q1, we continue to see progress across our key growth markets, with Estonia taking the top spot as the largest growth market (12.1% growth rate), overtaking China (12%) for the first time in over a year. Additionally, we are pleased to have onboarded two new issuers to our network of Local Operating Units (LOUs): Keler Central Depository Ltd., based in Hungary, and Tunisie Clearing, based in Tunisia. These additions to the LOU network present an excellent opportunity to grow the presence of the LEI in two key markets.

For the full report which includes further detail on the state of play of LEI issuance and growth potential, the level of competition between LEI issuing organizations in the Global LEI System and Level 1 and 2 reference data, please visit the Global LEI System Business Reports page.

If you are interested in reviewing the latest daily LEI data, our Global LEI System Statistics Dashboard contains daily statistics on the total and active number of LEIs issued. This feature now enables any user to review historical data by geography, increasing transparency on the overall progress of the LEI.

For further detail, or to access historical data, please visit the Global LEI System Business Report Archive. We look forward to sharing our progress each quarter as we continue to drive LEI adoption in 2021.

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About the author:

Stephan Wolf is the CEO of the Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (GLEIF). In 2023, he was elected as a member of the Board of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Germany. In 2021, he was appointed to an all-new Industry Advisory Board (IAB) as part of the global ICC Digital Standards Initiative (DSI). In that capacity, he serves as co-chair of the workstream on ‚Trusted Technology Environment‘. Between January 2017 and June 2020, Mr. Wolf was Co-convener of the International Organization for Standardization Technical Committee 68 FinTech Technical Advisory Group (ISO TC 68 FinTech TAG). In January 2017, Mr. Wolf was named one of the Top 100 Leaders in Identity by One World Identity. He has extensive experience in establishing data operations and global implementation strategy. He has led the advancement of key business and product development strategies throughout his career. Mr. Wolf co-founded IS Innovative Software GmbH in 1989 and served first as its managing director. He was later named spokesman of the executive board of its successor, IS.Teledata AG. This company ultimately became part of Interactive Data Corporation, where Mr. Wolf held the role of CTO. Mr. Wolf holds a university degree in business administration from J. W. Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main.


Tags for this article:
Global LEI System Business Reports, Global LEI Index, Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (GLEIF), LEI Issuers (Local Operating Units - LOUs), LEI Renewal, Open Data, Data Management, Level 1 / Business Card Data (Who is Who), Level 2 / Relationship Data (Who Owns Whom)