According to the latest Coface Payment Survey, in 2025, 97% of French companies grant payment terms to their customers, confirming that this practice remains deeply rooted in the economy. The average payment term is 49.7 days, higher than in Germany (32 days) or Poland (46 days). However, 86% of French companies report having experienced delays in the last 12 months (compared to 82% in 2023 and 85% in 2024). This phenomenon affects all sectors, with a particularly high proportion of very small businesses: more than half now consider the impact on their cash flow to be ‘critical’. Even more worrying is that 42% of companies attribute these delays to the financial difficulties of their customers, revealing a vicious circle that weakens the entire economic fabric. This deterioration is reflected in a continuous increase in business failures. In the first eight months of 2025, 42,505 failures were recorded, a record level that exceeds the pre-Covid level by 37%. To read Coface’s survey, go to https://www.coface.com/news-economy-and-insights/france-payment-survey-2025-86-of-companies-face-late-payments-that-threaten-their-cash-flow.