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The LEI in Numbers: Celebrating Over Two Million LEIs in Q1 2022

The Global LEI System reaches a new milestone in LEI adoption, driving more transparency into the global marketplace


Author: Stephan Wolf

  • Date: 2022-04-28
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The Global LEI Foundation (GLEIF) is proud of its ongoing transparency initiatives. Namely its open approach to providing unrestricted access to the latest LEI data from around the world with the Quarterly LEI System Business Reports, which are made publicly available free of charge. Through this ‘LEI in Numbers’ blog series, GLEIF aims to highlight key data from the latest report, explaining trends and profiling successes from the global LEI rollout.

The latest report, covering Q1 2022, shows that more than 65,000 new LEIs were issued globally during the first three months of the year. Total LEI issuance grew by 3.3% and worldwide adoption reached a new milestone: Over two million active LEIs. This is an historic moment that reconfirms the maturity of the Global LEI System and the value it delivers to the global economy and all users of LEI data.

For a further summary of the past quarter’s data, the below infographic contains the key statistics from Q1 2022.

So called ‘competitive markets’ refer to those with over 1,000 LEIs, based on the number of LEI issuers providing services in the jurisdiction. The most competitive markets are those with the most LEI issuers per jurisdiction, with similar market share, and vice versa for the least competitive markets.

In Q1, Iceland reclaimed its position as the jurisdiction with the highest LEI growth rate of the quarter, noting a 13.2% increase. It was closely followed by India (12.5%), Saudi Arabia (11.3%), China (7.9%) and Estonia (7.6%). This LEI adoption is driven by strong competition among LEI issuers in Iceland and Estonia, as well as increasing regulatory requirements in India and China. In Saudi Arabia, an initiative from the LEI issuer, Saudi Credit Bureau, with Saudi Central Bank has seen success by encouraging those within the financial sector to obtain an LEI.

The overall renewal rate for Q1 2022 was 61.5%, marginally lower than the previous quarter (62.5%). Still, at the end of the quarter, 63.8% of all LEIs were in good standing (last quarter: 64.7%).

Once again, Japan demonstrated the highest renewal rate (91.9%). This was followed by Luxembourg (87.9%), Finland (87.2%), Liechtenstein (84%) and India (79.8%). This proactive annual LEI renewal ensures that the Global LEI Index can continue to provide the most accurate and up-to-date data possible for bringing efficiency, transparency and trust to legal entity identification.

For the full report which includes further detail on the status 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.

Readers to note that, in March 2022, the Common Data File (CDF) formats were updated based on the Regulatory Oversight Committee (ROC) policies: Legal Entity Events (formerly referred to as “Corporate Actions") and Data History in the Global LEI System, Policy on Fund Relationships and Guidelines for the registration of Investment Funds in the Global LEI System, and LEI Eligibility for General Government Entities Guidance Document . The Q1 2022 Global LEI System Business Report is not yet adjusted to communicate this new information. More information will be included in the Q2 2022 Global LEI System Business Report.

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 2022.

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About the author:

Stephan Wolf is the CEO of the Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (GLEIF). Since March 2024, he has led the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC)’s Industry Advisory Board (IAB) of the Digital Standards Initiative, the global platform for digital trade standards alignment, adoption, and engagement. Before he was appointed as Chair, he had been serving as Vice-Chair of the IAB since 2023. In the same year, he was elected to the Board of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Germany.

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 strategies. 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)