New business volume grew by 6.7% in the equipment finance industry in 2014, according to the 2015 Survey of Equipment Finance Activity from the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association. It marks the fifth consecutive year that business increased spending on capital equipment.

“The data show that the equipment finance industry is healthy and growing, continuing an upward trend since the end of the Great Recession,” said ELFA president and CEO William G. Sutton. “More recent data collected in 2015 indicate that positive momentum is continuing, with member companies reporting solid new business growth and portfolio performance. We remain cautiously optimistic that demand for capital equipment will continue to drive positive growth for the equipment finance industry.”

The 6.7% growth rate was beliw the previous three years, including the high water mark of 16.5% set in 2011, but it still outpaced the growth rate of the U.S. economy (2.4%). The equipment finance industry has not had a year of contraction since 2009, when it declined by 30.3%.

The survey also showed that independent equipment finance firms led the industry in new business volume growth for the third straight year, with a 17.6% boost. Banks had growth of 7.4% and captives experienced a meager 1.3% increase.

In addition, the 2015 Small-Ticket Survey of Equipment Finance Activity, which focuses on smaller equipment transactions, also showed an increase in new business volume in 2014 of 7.1%.