As of January 2023, 60,000 Lithuanian companies were in debt

According to the data of the beginning of January, 57,000 Lithuanian companies had outstanding debts totaling 328 million euros, according to the analysis carried out by the credit bureau “Creditinfo Lietuva”.

• The average debt for a single company was 5,809 euros
• The average size of one debt was EUR 4,889
• During the year, the number of unique borrowers decreased symbolically – by just 0.6 percent
• Over the past decade, the total amount of corporate debt in Lithuania decreased by 4.2 times, falling from 1.4 billion euros to 328 million euros.

Manufacturers among the biggest debtors

At the beginning of 2023 the largest amounts of corporate debt were recorded in the following sectors: finance and insurance (~209 million EUR), information technology and telecommunications (31.2 million EUR), corporate administration and business management (21.8 million EUR), science and technology (~ EUR 18 million), wholesale and retail trade (EUR 16.8 million), electricity and gas supply (EUR 7.7 million), production (EUR 5.6 million) and construction (EUR 5 million).

Corporate debts to the financial and insurance sector (EUR 209 million) make up almost 68 percent of total amount of debts. 200 mln. consists of debts to financial institutions, 7.8 mln. EUR – debts to companies providing services to the financial and insurance sector, and 1.3 million. Eur – debt for insurance companies.

“Corporate debts to financial institutions usually make up the largest share of debts. First of all, it is determined by the specifics of the activities of the financial institutions themselves and the assumed risk of non-repayment of loans. On the other hand, it is precisely these institutions that most likely record debts and regularly provide information about borrowers”

Aurimas Kačinskas, head of Creditinfo Lietuva

Beverage manufacturers had the most debt of any manufacturing sector

Among producers, 39.5 percent debts (EUR 2.2 million) were recorded by beverage manufacturers, almost 14 percent (EUR 758,000) – manufacturers of equipment and means of production, almost 9 percent (483 thousand EUR) – press and recording companies, 4 percent (266 thousand EUR) – food production companies and 3.9 percent (221 thousand EUR) – rubber and plastic products companies.

Somewhat less debt was recorded by producers of other products: paper (EUR 178 thousand), transport equipment (EUR 109 thousand), wood products (EUR 85 thousand), electrical equipment (EUR 47.5 thousand), furniture (EUR 45 thousand EUR), as well as electronic and optical equipment (EUR 26 thousand).

The transport, transportation and courier sector had 4.4 million euros in debt, with post and courier companies accounting for 51.8% (2.3 million euros) and storage and transport service companies accounting for 34.4% (1.5 million euros) of the total.

“The larger the amounts of debt that are generated in individual sectors of activity, the more relevant it is for the companies representing them to take care of the risk assessment of business partners and customers and to take measures. It is very important not to wait and immediately inform about overdue payments – this is how we help businesses avoid the “domino effect” and encourage companies to pay on time”

A. Kačinskas

According to the head of the credit bureau, more than 50% of the debts are repaid within 30 days of being reported to the credit bureau. Registering a company’s debt prevents other companies from lending to insolvent company.