German companies are increasingly delaying invoice payments, a practice particularly widespread among large corporations, according to a study by the credit agency Creditreform.
While in the second half of 2021 companies were late with payments on average by ten days, in the second half of 2022 the delay slightly extended, and money reached suppliers or creditors with an average delay of just under 11 days, the study showed.
The gap is the longest in seven years, Creditreform highlighted on Tuesday.
– Frequent payment delays signal an economic crisis and sound the alarm for lenders and creditors – said the head of research at Creditreform, Patrik-Ludwig Hantzsch.
The risk of uncollectible receivables is higher than in previous years, Hantzsch added.
The average value of late payments in the second half of last year was 2,158 euros, which was 2.4 percent higher than in the second half of 2021.
The lion’s share of late payments to suppliers and creditors, nearly 60 percent, falls on large companies with more than 250 employees.
Companies with up to 50 employees accounted for more than a quarter of late payments, Creditreform found.
Creditreform conducted the study on approximately four million issued invoices.
