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text: 2015 Payment Statistics Atradius

Credit Sales and Payment Statistics

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Atradius conducted its latest APAC credit sales payment practices barometer survey in October 2015.  In this article, we will go through the survey results at a high level and compare results from Singapore against the rest of APAC.

 

Global Credit Sales

 

According to the survey results, 91% of APAC respondents granted credit terms to their customers in both domestic and foreign B2B transactions.  This is high when compared to other parts of the world where credit sales in Americas accounts for 89% and Europe at 76.2%.

Based on strong expected economic growth rates in APAC, credit sales volume is set for sturdy growth, ranging from 2.5% to 5% in the medium term.

 

APAC Credit Sales

 

There has been an increase in the proportion of sales made on credit for both domestic (3.2%) and foreign sales (5.5%) within APAC.  Some statistics below:

  • On average, 50.6% of the total value of domestic sales in APAC were made on credit, compared to 42.5% (made on credit) for foreign sales. This highlights that businesses generally view domestic sales to be much less risky than foreign sales, in terms of customers’ payment default.
  • Singapore, the domestic figures are above the average of the region; domestic sales – 53.3% and foreign sales – 45.2%
  • Hong Kong; domestic sales – 49.8% and foreign sales – 40.9%
  • China has the lowest proportion of credit sales in the region – 41.8% domestic credit sales and 37.9% foreign credit sales
  • Japan has the highest proportion of credit sales in the region – 60.4% domestic credit sales and 52.7% foreign credit sales

 B2B credit sales

 

 

Average Credit Sales Payment Terms

 

Average payment terms for both domestic and foreign B2B sales in APAC is 33 days from invoice date.  Payment terms for domestic and foreign customers vary across countries. Singapore did not have big differences in payment terms between domestic and foreign sales.

 

Overdue B2B Payments

 

It was reported that about 90.2% of respondents in APAC experienced late payments for both domestic and foreign sales.  India has the highest at 97% and Japan the lowest at 63.2%

On average, 44.8% of the total value of domestic B2B invoices remained outstanding at the due date.  Foreign sales late payment is at 45.2%.  Around 25% of the total value of B2B receivables in Asia Pacific were reported to be still outstanding after more than 30 days past due, and 10% is still remains outstanding 90 days past due.

 

90 days overdue invoice

 

For foreign B2B invoices, an average of 45.2% of its total value remained outstanding at the due date.   Slightly higher than domestic invoices.  The highest average is Australia at 63.1% and the lowest is Japan at 28.7%.

 

Day Sales Outstanding (DSO)

 

Average APAC DSO is 35 days.  Singapore has the highest DSO average of 40 days.  The lowest goes to Australia at 18 days.

 

Average Payment Outstanding

 

On average, APAC domestic B2B customers receive payment not later than 25 days after the due date, and 28 days for foreign sales.

 

Reasons for Payment Delays

 

For B2B domestic sales, the main reason behind late payments is due to their customers’ insufficient availability of funds.  The second largest reported reason is the perception that customers are intentionally delaying payments to use trade credit to finance their business operations.

 

Reference

Payment Practices Barometer Asia Pacific 2015, Atradius, 21st October 2015

APAC Countries who participated in the credit sales payment survey

  • Australia
  • China
  • Hong Kong
  • India
  • Indonesia
  • Japan
  • Singapore
  • Taiwan

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