(Finance) – After the pandemic, commercial payments between companies gradually return to normal. Payments at maturity are growing in all major economies of the world but Italy remains far from the main industrialized economies. This is what emerges from the “Payments Study 2022”, in which Cparmi, a CRIF Group company specialized in business information, also analyzed for 2021 the payment habits of companies in 38 countries around the world which represent about 90% of world GDP and the main economies with which Italian companies have commercial relations.
ITALY – With the 38.5% of payments on maturity – however a significant improvement (+ 11%) compared to 2019, pre-Covid – Italy it is behind Germany, UK, France and Spain in Europe. They only do worse Greece, Romania, Serbia, Portugal, Croatia, Turkey and Bulgaria. Comparing the data worldwide our country, on the other hand, ranks 25th in the ranking and sees a decline in serious delays, an improvement of 14% compared to last year. In Italy, where the last months of the year marked a good recovery, the areas most affected by the increase in serious delays in 2021compared to the pre-Covid period, – the study finds – are those of Hospitality services, with an incidence of payments over 30 days equal to 13.8%, increased by 45.1% and that of Restaurants and bars in which serious delays are found in 29.3% of cases, an increase of 22.8% compared to 2019. sectors that are recovering faster I am that of Transportation, which shows an incidence of serious delays equal to 5.1%, an improvement of 42.5% compared to 2019 and that of the Large Organized Distribution (GDO)with an incidence of serious delays equal to 12.8%, an improvement of 19.3% compared to 2019. Analyzing the trend of the first 3 months of 2022 the study finds that in March punctual payers accounted for 38.8% of the total, while payments over 30 days late reached 10.5%, down 18% compared to 4Q 2020 and stable compared to the level of 4Q 2019. North East is the most reliable geographical area with 46.7% of regular payments, while the companies of the South and Islands show a more problematic behavior with only 25.4% of payments within the terms. Between more specific product groups definitely the manufacture with only 6.8% of delays over 30 days, while in the retail trade we find the lowest concentration with over 16% of delays over 30 days.
EUROPE – In Northern Europe in 2021 the Denmark stands out for the higher shares of punctual payers, with 90.2%. They follow Poland and Slovakia with more than 74%. There Sweden, on the other hand, in 2021, it recorded a significant increase in the serious delays class compared to 2020, but it affects only 1.6% of the companies analyzed. L’Ireland shows an increase in punctual payers of 13.3% compared to the previous year, but serious delays also grow by over 19%. In 2021 l‘Hungary stands out for the higher shares of punctual payers with 70.7%, followed by Slovenia with 53.2%. Portugal and Romania instead, they register less than 18% in the payment class at maturity. There Croatia it is the Southern European country to show the most significant improvements in payment habits compared to 2020, with an increase in punctual payers of 12.2%. The highest increase in serious delays, on the other hand, is recorded for Bulgaria with 60.7%.
“The global trend for 2021 signals a recovery compared to 2020 data, a symptom of a substantial exit from the critical period due to the pandemic – commented Marco Preti, CEO of Cparmi -. For the countries of the Old Continent, payments are not yet affected by international events in the first months of the year. The conflict between Russia and Ukraine and the consequent increase in the price of raw materials, which began before the conflict, seems to have not yet had direct consequences on payments in Italy in the first three months of the year, but we expect it to be a topic to be consider for the next few months “.
ASIA – As for Asia also in 2021 Taiwan it stands out for the greater share of punctual payments with 70.8. Bad Hong Kongwhich records only 19.5% in the payment class at maturity and with a worsening compared to 2020 (-30.4%). Israel And China show an improvement in terms of timely payments with 22.4% (+ 38.3% compared to 2020) and 28.1% (+ 11.5% compared to 2020). The Philippines have seen a significant increase in companies paying serious late payments, from 29% in 2020 to 32.5% in 2021.
AMERICA – From the analysis of the American countries it is observed that in United States in 2021 punctual payers represent more than 57% of companies, thus reaching one of the most virtuous levels in the world. Serious delays increased by 5.6% over the previous year. The Canada compared to 2020, it recorded an increase both in payments upon maturity (23.5%) and in serious delays (31.5%). In Mexico payments on maturity grow by 8.6%.