Germany is still one of the countries with particularly short payment periods and low delays in payment in international comparison, but against the background of political uncertainty and growing geopolitical tensions, there is a significant deterioration in payment behavior. This is the result of the 9th edition of the Coface survey on the payment behavior of German companies with 847 participants in May and June of this year. In 2025, 84 percent of German companies granted payment terms. This has been a record value since 2016. At the same time, the traditional preference of the Germans has increased for short payment terms: 92 percent of the companies surveyed demanded a payment within 60 days, which corresponds to the level of 2016. Despite these changes, the average payment period remained almost unchanged at 32.5 days (compared to 32.1 days in 2024).
81 percent of companies report new payment delays – an increase of 3 percentage points compared to 2024. This will increase the value of 85 percent in 2019. The average duration of the payment delays rose by one day to 31.8 days. Despite this deterioration, the value is still significantly below the pre-pandemy average of 39.7 days.
Payment delays as a business risk
12 percent of the companies reported accumulated overdue payments (between six months and two years) that make up more than 2 percent of their annual sales. Although this number is slightly declining compared to 2024, it is still well above the average of pandemic. The construction industry is most affected. 24 percent of the companies reported problems here. “Experience has shown that 80 percent of the particularly long -outstanding payments are no longer paid. This makes it a significant business risk and a negative signal for economic development”
says Dagmar Koch, Country Manager from Coface Austria.
2026: Conductive optimism
After three years of economic stagnation, German companies still see signs of an improvement: While the general mood for 2025 remains negative -the proportion of pessimists for 2025 exceeds the proportion of optimists by 17 percentage points -the trend for 2026. For the coming year, optimism prevails with a plus of 16 percentage points. This is due to the expected state economic measures: investments in defense, infrastructure, and climate protection as well as tax incentives for companies. All of these measures give the reason for Germany in the center of the European economy – despite the existing political and economic challenges.
Germany remains the key market despite the challenges
Although there are concerns about internal demand and structural restrictions among the participants, Germany, together with the EU and EFTA countries, remains the market that is considered most promising by the respondents. This is also due to the fact that many companies do not export and are only active in these markets. The United States, on the other hand, have lost attractiveness and have fallen back to the popularity level that they last had during Donald Trump’s first term. The back and forth in the US, but also in global trade policy is probably a main reason for this. For this reason, 23 percent of companies have already introduced “DE-Risking” strategies (diversification of suppliers, securing payments, location transfer). According to the plans of our respondents, this number should reach 54 percent within the next three years, especially in export -oriented industries. “Even if the prospects for 2026 have improved, we will first see a further deterioration in the payment morality. This is also reflected in the official bankruptcy figures that are currently at a ten -year high in Germany”
Sency Branded Christmas Vurch, head of Ecographical reseranox & Safe & Cove at the COACACK.
COFACE: FOR TRADE
Coface has been one of the world’s leading companies in credit and risk management for almost 80 years and supports companies in finding and growing in an insecure and volatile environment. Regardless of size, location or industry, Coface offers its 100,000 customers comprehensive solutions in around 200 markets: War credit insurance, economic information, debt collection, securing project businesses. Every day we use our unique know-how and top technology to support trade-both in Germany and on export markets. In 2024, Coface employed around 5,200 employees and achieved sales of ~ 1.845 billion euros.