a year: the estimated cost of late payments to the UK economy.
London Economics for the Department for Business and Trade and the Small Business Commissioner, July 2025Checked 27 September 2026 · free to cite
Late payment statistics 2026
Late payment is one of the biggest avoidable costs for small businesses. In the UK it costs about £11 billion a year and closes around 38 businesses every day, and affected firms spend 86 hours a year chasing. Across the EU, more than half of companies reported late-payment difficulties in 2024. Every figure below links to its original source.
UK businesses close every day because of late payments (about 14,000 a year).
London Economics / Small Business Commissioner, July 2025a year of staff time spent chasing late payments, on average, per UK business affected by late payment.
London Economics / Small Business Commissioner, July 2025of UK small businesses surveyed forfeit late payments up to 10 times a year to avoid the time and cost of chasing.
GoCardless report commissioned through the Federation of Small Businesses, March 2025owed in late payments, on average, to UK freelancers, up from £5,140 in 2020.
IPSE, the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed, page published July 2024of EU companies reported difficulties caused by late payments in 2024, with average payment periods over 60 days.
EU Payment Observatory, Annual Report 2025, December 2025United Kingdom
The most detailed recent numbers come from research commissioned by the UK government and the Small Business Commissioner.
of UK businesses (over 1.5 million) are affected by late payments each year.
London Economics / Small Business Commissioner, July 2025is owed to UK businesses in late payments at any given time, about £17,000 per affected business.
London Economics / Small Business Commissioner, July 2025hours of staff time are spent chasing late payments across the UK economy each year.
London Economics / Small Business Commissioner, July 2025of surveyed businesses have avoided working with specific customers because of how they pay.
London Economics / Small Business Commissioner, July 2025of UK small businesses surveyed were getting more late payments than 12 months earlier.
GoCardless / Federation of Small Businesses, March 2025say late incoming payments affect their ability to pay their own suppliers on time; 18% their ability to pay employees.
GoCardless / Federation of Small Businesses, March 2025Freelancers and the self-employed
Freelancers carry late payments personally: there is rarely a finance team or a cash buffer between the invoice and the rent.
of UK freelancers had not been paid on time by a client in the previous 12 months.
IPSE, page published July 2024had no money left for basic living costs such as rent and bills after a late payment.
IPSE, page published July 2024had to use a credit card or overdraft because of a late payment.
IPSE, page published July 2024European Union
The European Commission’s Payment Observatory tracks payment behaviour across member states.
average payment periods reported by suppliers in both business-to-business and government-to-business transactions in 2024.
EU Payment Observatory, Annual Report 2025, December 2025of cases: longer payment terms are associated with longer actual payment periods.
EU Payment Observatory, Annual Report 2025, December 2025United States
Accounting data shows how late small businesses are actually paid.
late, on average, for US small-business invoices in the June 2026 quarter; businesses waited 29.3 days in total to be paid.
Xero Small Business Insights, via Xero, June quarter 2026Coming up
What changes next
The UK’s Commercial Payments Bill, introduced in May 2026 and still going through Parliament, would cap business payment terms at 60 days and make late-payment interest mandatory. In the EU, a 2023 proposal for a stricter late-payment regulation has not been adopted. See the UK page for the bill’s progress and the interest calculator for today’s rates.
Using these numbers? Please link to the original source, or to this page: https://babara.app/late-payment-statistics.
Before the first reminder
Good questions.
How much do late payments cost UK businesses?
About £11 billion a year, according to London Economics research for the UK government and the Small Business Commissioner (July 2025). The same research estimates 14,000 business closures a year, about 38 a day.
How many hours do businesses spend chasing late payments?
On average 86 hours of staff time a year per UK business affected by late payment, or 133 million hours across the economy (London Economics / Small Business Commissioner, July 2025).
How much are freelancers owed in late payments?
IPSE puts the average amount UK freelancers are owed in late payments at £5,230, up from £5,140 in 2020 (page published July 2024).
Are late payments getting worse?
45% of UK small businesses surveyed for GoCardless and the FSB (March 2025) were getting more late payments than a year earlier. In the EU, more than half of companies reported late-payment difficulties in 2024 (EU Payment Observatory, December 2025).
Consider the awkward part handled.
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