Buying on credit is the dominant mode of business-to-business trading in Greece, accounting for 57% of total sales, but most seem to have learned from past suffering and are setting stricter conditions. Result; Arrears account for 35% of the value of credit sales, which is not insignificant, but it is down 22% from last year, when it reached 45% of credit sales, and is the smallest percentage among the 14 Western European countries. . In addition, compared to last year, the percentage of receivables that are finally written off as uncollectible has halved to 2% of total credit sales, compared to 4% in 2022.

According to the payment practice barometer of the credit insurance company Atradius, 63% of the total invoice value was paid on time, compared to 51% in 2022, and 35% was overdue, compared to 45%. Undoubtedly, the tightening of the terms of the deal played a decisive role. First, the reported average payment time is 36 days from invoicing, two weeks less than last year.

However, despite any improvement, Greece has the lowest percentage (55% compared to 75% in Western Europe) of businesses that claim payments are made within 30 days. 43% state that they are completed within 31-60 days, 1% – from 61 days to three months, and 1% – that they are completed with a delay of more than three months.

Buying on credit is the dominant way of trading. This applies to 57% of sales.

More and more businesses are taking proactive measures, such as checking the creditworthiness of their customers and allocating more resources, time and staff to hunt for bad debts. However, on the other hand, arrears can have repercussions for the business awaiting collection, such as delays in paying employees and bills, as well as the suspension of investments. However, 47% of businesses in Greece are now thinking much more seriously about using a credit insurance tool to reduce their risk exposure.

Optimism

As part of the Atradius study, companies’ forecasts regarding their financial position are also studied. Thus, 66% expect their turnover to improve over the next twelve months, 27% expect no change, and 7% expect sales to decline. 57% expect profits to increase, and 45% believe that business relationships will also improve.

Finally, regarding the impact of inflation, 32% of businesses in Greece claim that it affects the cost of holding inventory, 27% the cost of production, 18% the cost of demand, 12% the cost of borrowing and 8% labor costs.