European written-off annual debt reaches €312 billion – more than the financial assistance packages granted to Greece, Ireland and Portugal
2011 European Payment Index reveals a divided Europe
Key European Statistics
The following statistics are taken from Intrum Justitia’s 2011 European Payment Index (EPI 2011), an annual survey of almost 6,000 businesses across Europe.
- Written-off debt across Europe has risen by €12 billion over the past 12 months. In 2010, 2.7% of all transactions across Europe were written off as compared to 2.6% in 2009.
- If all European businesses, public authorities and consumers paid their bills and invoices in full, the money saved from written-off bad debt would equate to a €312 billion cash injection for businesses throughout Europe.
- Companies in Europe who believe risks from debtors will increase are twice the number of those who believe risks will decrease in the coming 12 months – 32% vs. 14%.
- The economies of Europe tell very different stories. Europe’s largest economy, Germany, shows yet another sign of its economic strength. Germany, the powerhouse of Europe, saw written-off debt decline by 8% in 2010. In Europe’s third-largest economy, the UK, written-off debt soared by 33%.
- Other countries showing a significant positive development in written-off debt are Switzerland, Iceland and Lithuania. Greece is seeing by far the worst development in written-off debt, with an increase of 63%. Other countries showing a negative development, with written-off debt increasing by over 10%, are the UK, Ireland, Denmark, Austria, Portugal, Hungary and Sweden.
- The EPI 2011 shows the average time from an invoice being issued until payment is received to be 56 days for business-to-business payments and 65 days when the public sector is to pay an invoice, business-to-business increasing by one day and public sector with two days compared to the previous year.
- 28% of all companies in Europe see late payments as a threat to survival whilst 45% see late payments prohibiting growth. In the UK 55% of companies see late payments as a threat to survival and 65% see it as prohibiting growth. In Germany, on the other hand, only 17% of companies see late payments as a threat to survival and 23% see it prohibiting growth.
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