The proportion of unpaid invoices in the Hungarian economy has doubled

By: Trademagazin Date: 2023. 01. 11. 10:37

Last year, 5 percent of business-to-business (B2B) invoices remained unpaid in Hungary. In 2021, this was barely more than 2 percent. Among other things, this is stated in Atradius’s analysis of credit insurance payment habits. Hungarian companies are therefore more pessimistic about this year than the regional average. 49 percent of the respondents fear that their customers will pay their bills more slowly this year than last year. This is one percent higher than the Central European average. The reason for late payment is typically the liquidity situation of the customers. The survey was conducted by interviewing 200 Hungarian companies.

There is no reason to be hopeful

According to Atradius respondents, the combined effect of the global economic slowdown, the energy crisis, high domestic inflation and the Russian-Ukrainian war can dramatically worsen the performance of the domestic economy. 40 percent of the 200 domestic companies experienced an increase in the turnover rate of B2B invoices (DSO), meaning that their customers paid later than a year earlier. In 2021, this rate was 33 percent. – The same trend can be observed in bad debts, and the growth here is remarkable. While 2.3 percent of invoices had to be written off two years ago, this increased to 5 percent last year. Based on this, the pessimism of Hungarian companies is unfortunately justified – said Balázs Vanek, the country director of Atradius.

Sales on credit increased

In the agricultural and food industry, 60 percent of respondents stated that they provided more customers with credit for purchases than in 2021. At that time, 42 percent of transactions were done on credit, and this year it is 47 percent. The suppliers justified this by saying that they were able to acquire new clients and retain old clients despite the pressure of competitors. Several companies also agreed to extend the payment deadline. Last year, the payment deadline in the two sectors was 43 days, which is five days more than the 2021 figure.