Research released in Stockholm, Sweden, by leading credit management services company, Intrum Justitia, shows that the annual European written-off debt – monies owed to a business but never paid – has reached the record level of €312 billion ($437 billion) – a figure exceeding the EU/IMF financial assistance package of €273 billion granted to Greece, Ireland and Portugal.
Intrum Justitia’s annual European Payment Index survey of almost 6,000 European businesses also shows a divided European economy, with large differences between different countries.
“Talking about a single European Economy being in or on its way out of a recession is not relevant any more. Instead we see a much more fragmented picture, where some countries are doing better and better and others are becoming worse and worse. Billions of Euros have been poured into Greece, Ireland and Portugal. Although we have seen a very troubling development, these economies together only make up a little more than a third of the UK GDP. The surging debt write-offs in the UK are a clear call for action in combating late payments,” comments Intrum Justitia CEO, Lars Wollung.
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