Late payments, bad debts drag on Asia’s B2B trade flows: survey

An average of 44% of B2B credit sales are affected by late payments, it found.

Businesses across Asia are dealing with a “fragmented and complex B2B landscape,” reports Atradius, a trade credit insurance company.

Bad debts average 5% of companies’ business-to-business (B2B) invoices, based on a survey conducted during the second half of Q2 2025, which included 8 countries and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The strain on business cash flow is also highlighted, with an average 44% of all B2B credit sales being affected by late payments, Atradius found.

About 54% of all B2B sales are currently transacted on credit, the survey found.

“This is clearly a strategy to encourage sales and promote customer loyalty but does mean increased credit exposure [is] only partially mitigated by steady payment terms,” Atradius said.

Bank loans are the most popular source of external funding to help companies deal with liquidity issues amongst Asia companies, the survey found.

“The rising worry about a deteriorating trend in B2B customer payment behaviour probably explains why 60% of businesses already use a combination of internal funds and outsourced credit management, such as insurance, to mitigate the risk of customer payment defaults,” Atradius said.

This figure is likely to rise because companies are aware that relying solely on internal resources can freeze up cash that might be used for operations or investment, it further warned.

Supplier credit and invoice financing are also important to many firms.

The Atradius Payment Practices Barometer’s survey results for Asia covered China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, and Vietnam, as well as the UAE.