Late payments in the UK: the numbers every business owner should know
A data-led look at the scale of late payments in the UK, drawing on GOV.UK, UK Parliament, and Xero small business data.
£11bn
estimated annual cost of late payments to the UK economy (GOV.UK)
Late payment is not a niche frustration — it is a structural drag on the whole economy. The figures below come from government, parliamentary, and independent small-business data.
The national picture
£11bn
estimated annual cost of late payments to the UK economy (GOV.UK)
14,000
businesses estimated to close each year due to late payments — around 38 every day (GOV.UK)
1.5 million
businesses (around 28%) affected by late payments each year (GOV.UK)
What it costs those affected
£26bn
owed in late payments at any given time — around £17,000 per affected business (GOV.UK)
86 hours
average per business each year chasing payment — 133 million staff hours nationally (GOV.UK)
The wider evidence
£112bn
owed to UK small businesses in unpaid invoices by the end of 2024, per Sage evidence reported by UK Parliament
UK Parliament also reported that nearly half of invoices are paid late. Independent data from Xero UK Small Business Insights found that, between April and June 2024, payments to UK small businesses were made 7.3 days late on average, and businesses waited 29.1 days to be paid.
The scale is enormous — but it is made up of individual invoices, chased one calm reminder at a time.
Sources
Turn insight into action
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