How many UK businesses are owed money? The real numbers

Government-commissioned research published in July 2025 estimated that over 1.5 million UK businesses - around 28% - are affected by late payments each year, and that businesses are owed roughly £26 billion in late payments at any given time, an average of about £17,000 per affected business. The same study put the cost to the UK economy at almost £11 billion a year and linked late payment to around 14,000 business closures annually - 38 every day. If you’re sitting on unpaid invoices, you are not an outlier; you’re part of one of the biggest hidden drains on British business.

Where these numbers come from

The most robust figures we have were produced by London Economics for the Department for Business and Trade and the Office of the Small Business Commissioner, published in July 2025. It combined a survey of 1,455 businesses (run by YouGov and IFF Research in early 2025) with econometric analysis of company data - which makes it considerably sturdier than the average vendor press release. Its headline findings:

• Over 1.5 million businesses (28%) are affected by late payments each year.
• £26 billion is owed in late payments at any given time - on average £17,000 per affected business.
• Late payments cost the UK economy almost £11 billion per year.
• Around 14,000 businesses close each year as a result - 38 every day.

Estimates of the human cost vary by methodology: earlier research by the Federation of Small Businesses, cited by the government in 2024, put closures linked to late payment as high as 50,000 a year. Whichever figure you prefer, the direction is the same - late payment doesn’t just annoy businesses, it kills them.

The hours nobody invoices for

The 2025 study also measured something every owner recognises but rarely counts: chasing time. Affected businesses spend an average of 86 hours a year pursuing money they have already earned - an estimated 133 million hours of staff time across the economy annually. And 15% of surveyed businesses said they now avoid dealing with specific customers because of their payment behaviour, which means late payers are quietly shrinking their own supply chains.

The quiet write-off problem

Perhaps the most telling statistic isn’t about what’s owed - it’s about what’s abandoned. A 2025 report from the Federation of Small Businesses and GoCardless, based on a survey of over 2,000 small businesses, found that 52% forfeit late payments up to ten times a year rather than bear the time and cost of chasing them, and 28% had turned to short-term finance to plug the resulting cash-flow gaps.

That’s the real damage in miniature: businesses borrowing money, at interest, to cover money they’re owed - then writing off the debt because chasing feels harder than absorbing the loss.

What the numbers mean for you

Three practical conclusions fall out of all this:

1. You’re in the majority, not the minority. Being owed money is the normal condition of trading on credit in the UK - so build chasing into your routine rather than treating each late invoice as an awkward one-off. Our guide to small business debt recovery sets out the escalation ladder step by step, and why late payments kill growth shows what the drift does to your forecast.
2. The law is on your side. On qualifying commercial debts you can add statutory interest at 8% plus the Bank of England base rate, fixed compensation per invoice, and reasonable recovery costs - the free late-payment calculator does the sums for you.
3. Don’t join the write-off statistic. An unpaid invoice is an asset, and in England and Wales you generally have six years to pursue it - but recovery gets harder every month you wait, and half of small firms are quietly gifting that money away.

Turn a statistic into a payment

The gap between the businesses that get paid and the ones that write it off usually comes down to one decision: escalating instead of absorbing. If chasing has stalled, compare vetted debt recovery agencies on Collect Compare - blind, side by side, on fees and specialism rather than marketing - or let us match you to the right one for your case. It’s free for creditors, because the agency you choose pays for the introduction.

This is general information, not legal advice. Figures are drawn from the research cited and reflect the publication dates given.