Industry, construction, commerce, and transportation now account for close to 60% of all creditors using debt collection services and over 62% of the total value of debts submitted for recovery, according to data from Kaczmarski Inkasso. These same sectors also house the largest share of debtors, underscoring how payment delays circulate within the same industries.
The relationship is clear: wherever businesses most frequently engage collection firms to recover payments, they also tend to owe money to their own suppliers. In sectors with the largest financial flows – from construction investments to manufacturing, wholesale trade, and transportation – the risk of payment gridlocks is most concentrated.
Industry Leads in Debt Value Growth
The largest number of creditors using debt recovery services operate in construction (16.5%), though this sector’s share has slightly declined from 17% in 2024. Road freight transportation now ranks second (15.6%), increasing from 14.7% a year earlier. Wholesale trade is also highly active, accounting for 14.2% of creditors, up from 12.9% last year.
By debt value, industry has moved to the top, rising from fourth place in 2024. This sector now accounts for 18.6% of all debt sent for recovery, compared with 11.8% a year ago. Construction ranks second with 17.8%, down slightly from 18.7%. Debt in wholesale trade has also declined to 16.6%, compared to 17.6% previously.
“The data show that in the largest sectors of the economy – industry, construction, trade, and transport – debt is a two-way issue. Companies in these industries assign the most cases to collection, but they’re also often debtors themselves. This illustrates how interconnected market players are and how quickly payment delays cascade through entire supply chains. We’re seeing more businesses act sooner, before overdue amounts balloon,”
says Jakub Kostecki, CEO of Kaczmarski Inkasso.
When the Creditor Is Also the Debtor
Kaczmarski Inkasso’s analysis shows that while the volume of creditors and debtors varies across sectors, so does each sector’s share of total debt value—both in what is assigned for recovery and what is owed. In transportation, debtors have higher outstanding amounts, whereas creditors outnumber debtors in terms of entities. The pattern is similar in wholesale: more creditors, while in retail, debtors dominate. In construction and manufacturing, the number of creditors and debtors is comparable, but the value of overdue payments differs considerably.
Transportation reveals the contrast most starkly. The sector is highly fragmented, composed largely of micro-firms with one or two trucks. While transport orders are often low in value, when these firms fall behind on payments, they tend to owe substantial amounts to a small group of key suppliers – such as leasing companies, fuel distributors, or banks.
Wholesale Collects, Retail Owes
The split is even clearer in commerce. Wholesale operates in the B2B market, supplying goods to shops, restaurants, and small firms, often on trade credit. As a result, wholesalers are overrepresented among creditors and assign higher debt values to collection than they owe themselves. Retail tells a different story: small shops feature more often in debtor registries, though individual debts are smaller, lowering the sector’s overall debt value share.
In construction, the number of creditors and debtors is fairly balanced, though debt value tends to be higher on the debtor side. Fragmentation in the sector, complex payment chains between investors, general contractors, and subcontractors, and milestone-based billing give rise to “domino” effects where one delay can quickly affect multiple companies.
Manufacturing is more balanced. Producers sell with deferred payment terms but also plan purchases in advance. While the number of collection cases remains stable, the debt value held by creditors is rising – especially among smaller buyers.
“The takeaway for businesses is clear. Simply counting debt collection cases is not enough to assess credit risk or determine contract terms. The same sector might have many small receivables and a few large payables. To manage credit risk effectively, firms must consider both the number of creditors and the value of assigned debts. In transport and construction, shorter payment terms, monitoring, and strict credit limits are advisable. In trade, it pays to distinguish between B2B and B2C customers. Wholesalers should verify payment history rigorously and act quickly on overdue invoices through collection, while retailers should monitor liquidity and remain cautious of seasonal revenue spikes,”
summarizes Kostecki.
Source: ceo.com.pl
