Shadow banking grew by nearly 8 per cent globally to more than $45tn on a conservative measure after international rulemakers were able to include detailed data from China and Luxembourg for the first time.

Shadow banking — the parts of the financial system that perform banklike functions such as lending but do not have the same safeguards — accounted for 13 per cent of total global financial assets, according to the Financial Stability Board, the international group of policymakers and regulators that makes recommendations to the G20.

The data form part of the FSB’s annual monitoring exercise of shadow banking, which it says is necessary in order to calibrate policy responses. The inclusion of China and Luxembourg — home to a large part of the world’s investment funds — makes this year’s monitoring report the most detailed yet.