Singapore’s businesses are facing a worrying deterioration in payment discipline, with nearly half reporting that customers are taking longer to pay—raising fresh concerns about cash flow and credit risk even as the economy continues to grow.
According to Coface’s APAC Payment Survey 2026, 49% of Singapore respondents said payment delays became more frequent over the past year, more than twice the 21% who reported an improvement. Another 42% said delays had become more severe.
The survey, conducted in March and April, covered 2,800 finance professionals across 10 Asia-Pacific markets, including 152 respondents in Singapore.
Businesses are waiting more than two months
Singapore companies reported an average payment delay of 66.3 days, slightly below the APAC average of 68.1 days.
But the bigger concern is customer defaults.
57% of Singapore firms experienced at least one customer default during the previous 12 months, compared with 45% across APAC. Among companies that experienced defaults, 31% said the impact exceeded 10% of their total receivables.
That means payment delays are no longer simply an administrative inconvenience—they can directly affect a company’s working capital and ability to operate.
Construction faces the longest delays
The construction sector recorded the longest average payment delay at approximately 85 days, significantly above Singapore’s overall 66.3-day average.
The timing is notable because Singapore’s construction pipeline remains strong. The Building and Construction Authority expects construction demand to reach S$47 billion to S$53 billion in 2026.
More projects can mean more business, but they can also create longer payment chains involving developers, main contractors, subcontractors and suppliers—potentially increasing working-capital pressure.
Companies may be reacting too slowly
One of the most striking findings concerns how businesses respond when customers begin paying late.
65% of Singapore firms said they wait until payment delays exceed 60 days before tightening payment terms or credit controls, compared with 47% across APAC. Only 11% treat repeated delays of around 30 days as an immediate warning signal.
Relationships may be part of the reason.
Coface found that 84% of Singapore respondents said relationship considerations can sometimes outweigh financial warning signs, while almost three-quarters said longstanding commercial relationships influence their willingness to tolerate late payments.
Coface Singapore CEO Grishma Kewada said businesses should combine trust with current, objective information because a customer’s historical payment record may not fully reflect financial pressures they are facing today.
Is Singapore’s economy weakening?
Not necessarily.
Singapore’s economy grew 5.7% year-on-year in Q2 2026, supported by strong electronics and precision engineering activity. But Coface describes the economy as increasingly “two-speed,” with some sectors benefiting from the AI-driven boom while others, including chemicals, face disruptions and geopolitical uncertainty.
That uneven environment could explain why payment conditions are deteriorating even while headline economic growth remains strong.
And businesses aren’t particularly optimistic about the near future.
52% expect payment conditions to deteriorate over the coming year, with retail and chemicals among the more pessimistic sectors.
Another warning from a separate survey
The Coface findings are not occurring in isolation.
A separate Atradius 2026 survey found that around four in five Singapore companies experienced delayed B2B payments, with nearly one-third of receivables overdue. Singapore also had the highest share of credit-based B2B sales in Asia in that survey, at 51%.
Together, the surveys suggest that credit and cash-flow risk remain important concerns for Singapore businesses despite the country’s relatively resilient economic performance.
The bigger question
Singapore may be growing—but for many companies, growth on paper does not necessarily mean cash in the bank.
If customers continue taking longer to pay and more businesses suffer defaults, companies may have to become much more aggressive about credit controls, receivables monitoring and cash-flow protection.
The danger is that by the time a late payment becomes an obvious crisis, the warning signs may have been visible for months.
WWC ONE MEDIA J.M.D
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