In France, despite the country's lack of dynamism, lending to enterprises continued to be more buoyant than in most other European countries. After a short period of decline between the second half of 2009 and the first half of 2010, indebtedness in non-financial corporations began to increase again, albeit at a slower pace than before. According to surveys on SMEs' access to credit, demand for credit was low and has changed little since the end of 2012, due to low activity and the lack of investment dynamism resulting from a shortage of outlets. An econometric study confirms that in France, the sluggish pace of credit distribution to independent SMEs is mainly due to the weak demand for credit. Only very small enterprises, newly-created enterprises and enterprises in a precarious financial situation encountered some difficulties accessing bank credit.