Italy continues to fail to shine in terms of payment punctuality, affecting the country's efficiency and competitiveness. In mid-2024, the number of companies that pay on time without being solicited fell below 40%, down 1.3% from the second quarter of 2023 and 0.7% from the same period in 2022, but up 3.4% from 2021, attributable to the pandemic emergency. However, the average payment time decreased by two days from the second quarter of 2023, to 67 days. This is due to a slight reduction in payments with serious delays, defined as more than 30 days, which fell from 9.7% to 9.5% of the total. Several differences persist at the territorial level. Italy is divided into two regions: the Northeast is confirmed as the most reliable, with 47.1% of regular payments, while only 27.9% of companies in the South and Islands paid by the deadline. The most virtuous regions are Lombardy, Veneto, and Emilia-Romagna, where companies pay on time in 49.5%, 47.8%, and 47.4% of cases, respectively. On the other hand, Campania (28.1%), Calabria (23.9%), and Sicily (22.7%) rank at the bottom.
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