Western Europe: An Increase in Past Due B2B Invoices

Atradius recently reported that after a minor increase from 2016 to 2017, the proportion of past due B2B receivables in Western Europe increased again this year and stands at 41.8%.

In 2018, Atradius Payment Practices Barometer survey respondents from Western Europe reported an increase in past due B2B invoices. The majority of respondents (57.9%) said that they felt the impact of payment delays having to postpone their own payments to suppliers and even losing revenue. Like in 2017, the main reason for payment delays was insufficient availability of funds. The proportion of uncollectable B2B receivables remained stable at 1.3% and most respondents in the region declared that the customer going bankrupt was the main reason for write-offs.

Overdue B2B invoices continuing their upward trend in 2018

87.6% of respondents in Western Europe reported frequent late payments by their B2B customers compared to 87.8% in 2017. Late payments seemed to occur significantly more frequently with domestic B2B customers than with B2B customers abroad. The percentages of respondents who cited late payments by their B2B customers increased significantly in Sweden and Greece.

After a minor increase from 39.0% in 2016 to 40.7% in 2017, the proportion of past due B2B receivables in Western Europe increased again this year and stands at 41.8%. The regional increase occurred after all countries with the exception of Germany, Ireland and Great Britain reported higher proportions of past due B2B invoices. The average proportion of foreign past due B2B invoices is slightly higher than that of domestic past due B2B invoices.