The number of Portuguese consumers who pay their bills on time fell from 85% to 77% between 2024 and 2025, which could mean “a possible impact of financial pressure on families”, indicates a study by Intrum.
Despite the decline, the value remains slightly above the European average, which is 76%, according to the annual edition of Intrum’s European Consumer Payments Report.
In Europe, the number of consumers who pay their bills on time has been growing for two years, rising from 63% in 2023 to 74% in 2024.
At the top of the table of the most compliant are the Spanish and Austrians, with 83% of the total being able to pay their bills on time. At the opposite extreme are the Greeks, with only 67% meeting payment deadlines.
For Intrum, this growth reflects “greater financial stability”, showing that “consumers are regaining confidence in their ability to pay bills and cover expenses”.
The study also highlights an improvement in the perception of the ability to support the family (71% in 2025 compared to 63% in 2024) and to cover work-related expenses, such as public transport (73% compared to 61%, respectively).
Despite the positive trend, the report reveals the existence of “signs of vulnerability”, when 43% of respondents continue to mention “the lasting effects of the increase in the cost of living, layoffs and job uncertainty”.
The data collected for the study shows that Generation Z (individuals born between 1997 and 2012) faces “increased difficulties” in paying their bills on time, with more than a third of young people (36%) admitting that they failed to pay one or more bills in the last year, compared to 24% of the average European consumer, and 63% saying that the situation is recurring.
Lack of money to meet obligations is the reason given by 52% of young people who missed payments, compared to only 20% in 2024.
The influence of social networks on financial habits is admitted by 31% of these young people, who admit to having contracted debt for trying to replicate the lifestyle of influencers. Around 54% report negative impacts on their mental health.
The Intrum study also identifies a change in consumers’ relationship with technology, with 70% of consumers considering that social networks promote “unrealistic financial expectations”.
Only 30% say they make more impulsive purchases than in 2024, when they were 45% of the total, and only 18% say they fear that artificial intelligence will replace their jobs.
In a statement, Luís Salvaterra, general director of Intrum Portugal, highlights that “the Portuguese continue to stand out for their commitment to financial responsibility”, despite the decline in relation to 2024 showing that “there are segments of the population feeling the pressure of monthly charges”.
is a credit management services company based in Sweden. The European Consumer Payments Report, which in this edition was based on a survey of 20,000 consumers in 20 European countries, details the way in which Europeans manage their finances, deal with rising costs and adapt to economic changes.
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