The current crisis, marked by high energy prices and runaway inflation, has caused household bills to become increasingly expensive, with gas and electricity at record highs in recent months. Given this situation, however, a worrying number of buyers have decided to stop paying for the goods and services they have purchased, which greatly affects the accounts of the self-employed.
According to the barometer presented last Monday by the Association of Autonomous Workers (ATA), delinquency has increased by almost 10 points over the last year. In this month of September, delinquency, which occurs mainly in the private sector, affects 41.6% of the Spanish self-employed .
More specifically, the same report highlights that of all the self-employed surveyed, 55.5% say that their business has not been affected by the delay in paying bills so far this year. After deducting 2.9% who have chosen the “don’t know / don’t answer” option, 41.6% say the opposite. Of the total, 26% say that it has not been paid by private entities, 6.7% by public entities, and 8.9% by both types.
Delinquency, a drag on the economy
Delinquency is a variable that penalizes the economies in which it occurs, and that is usually directly related to their vitality .
When the good times are left behind and a crisis appears, delinquency data tend to increase notably , as SMEs and the self-employed become the main affected by the stress on savings.
the energy bill
Added to the problem of delinquency is the fact that practically half of the Spanish self-employed assure that they have noticed less activity in their business. 9 out of 10 claim to be suffering higher costs in their activities, and 6 out of 10 say they are transmitting these costs to the prices of their final goods and services.
The war in Ukraine and the weakness of the euro against the dollar have pushed up energy prices in Europe , causing businesses and households to struggle to maintain their previous consumption of electricity and fuel.
Thus, the ATA indicates that currently 94.2% of self-employed workers claim to pay more for supplies . Almost half of them say those increases exceed 25%.
