Berlin, 23 April 2024 - Growth continued in 2023: Despite turbulent times, the factoring industry once again managed to increase its factoring turnover to EUR 384.4 billion (up 3.1 percent on the previous year) and set a new record, the 14th consecutive year of growth.
2023 was characterised by inflation, energy price shocks, a shortage of skilled workers and a lack of investment incentives. Although nominal GDP rose by 6.8 per cent due to high inflation, price-adjusted GDP fell by 0.3 per cent, reflecting Germany's period of economic weakness.
The factoring ratio (the relation between the volume of purchased receivables of the German factoring companies and the total GDP), on the other hand, declined slightly despite industry growth and now stands at 9.3 per cent in 2023. With the renewed growth in factoring turnover, the industry is proving to be a stable and reliable partner in the financing mix, especially in difficult times. This is proven by the current user figures of over 106,000 customers with over 10 million debtors.
"The factoring industry has not only reached another record high in terms of turnover volume, but has also underpinned its stabilising function, particularly in the domestic market!" explains Michael Menke, spokesman of the German factoring association’s executive board. This time, the factoring industry's turnover growth in the reporting year is mainly attributable to national factoring (up 4.6 per cent on the previous year). In contrast, the turnover generated in the international factoring business fell short of the growth achieved in recent years (minus 0.6 per cent compared to the previous year). In export factoring, the previous year's turnover was confirmed at EUR 102.8 billion (plus 0.1 per cent). In contrast, the industry recorded a decline of around 11 per cent in the import factoring volume compared to the previous year, with turnover amounting to EUR 5.8 billion in the reporting year. The key sectors of "trade, trade negotiation" (1st place) and "healthcare" (2nd place) continue to dominate, with the food industry rising to 3rd place in 2023.
"As in previous years, factoring has supported all company sizes as a stabilising partner in the financing mix," Menke continues. The proportion of customers in the SME sector (tickets of 0 to 10 million euros, 96.6 per cent in 2023) recorded an increase of 2.5 percentage points compared to the previous year - a record figure in recent years.
Future developments at an international level will depend inter alia on inflation trends and foreign policy issues, which influence economic development in Germany and around the world. Nationally, it remains to be seen whether and how the issues of uncertain economic conditions, the energy transition and escalating bureaucracy will be addressed in the long term: Experts predict a further increase in corporate insolvencies in 2024 - a trend that has already been clearly confirmed in the first quarter compared to recent years. The economic expectations of the association's members are therefore rather cautious for 2024 and are rated with an average overall score (in German school grades) of 2.6 (previous year 2.5).
With Germany's attractiveness as a business location hopefully picking up again in the context of positive economic development, factoring will continue to be a reliable partner and stabiliser for companies in all sectors.
The German Factoring Association currently represents 45 members (excluding group memberships) and accounts for around 98 per cent of the factoring turnover organised in associations in Germany. The figures given are therefore representative of the entire industry as a benchmark.
Press contact:
Deutscher Factoring-Verband e.V.
Dr. jur. Alexander M. Moseschus, Verbandsgeschäftsführer/managing director
Behrenstr. 73, 10117 Berlin
Tel.: +49-(0)30-20 654 654, Fax: +49-(0)30-979 963 00
E-Mail: kontakt@factoring.de
