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ICT growth is expected to slow down in 2017 as increased economic uncertainty is affecting household consumption growth and business investments.

It still remains to be seen to what extent the Trump administration´s policies will impact the US market for information and communication technology.

Despite overall growth, many French ICT companies face structurally low margins, price pressure and an on-going consolidation process in the market.

Due to limited organic growth opportunities and the on-going economic uncertainty, market players strive to expand through acquisitions and specialisation.

Despite continued sales growth, most German ICT businesses operate on very tight margins due to fierce competition and price erosion in most subsectors.

On average, payments in the ICT sector take between 30 and 90 days. Business culture promotes prompt payment, and therefore the number of delays is low.

Payment behaviour in the South Korean ICT sector has been good over the past two years, and the number of payment delays and insolvencies is low.

As in 2016 the ICT market remains characterised by high competition, single-digit margins, low entry barriers and stagnating growth in some segments.

The first hint of spring is in the air leaving this Economic Outlook in a position of cautious optimism.

After an increase of almost five percentage points in 2016, the percentage of overdue B2B invoices in Eastern Europe decreased again this year (41.5%).

The percentage of overdue B2B invoices in the Czech Republic continued its downward trend. In 2017, the country’s payment default rate stood at 37%.

The percentage of overdue B2B invoices in Hungary decreased in 2017. At 29.7%, the payment default rate in the country is far under the regional average.

Overdue B2B invoices occurred more often with the domestic customers of our Polish respondents (41.0%) than with their foreign customers (36.6%).

The percentage of overdue B2B invoices in Slovakia decreased from 48.0% in 2016 to 41.5% this year. This is in line with the regional average (41.5%).

Compared to one year ago when 57.1% of B2B invoices were reported to be overdue in Turkey, the percentage has decreased slightly in 2017 to 55.9%.

High uncertainty surrounding NAFTA renegotiations and other US policy directions in international trade, and specifically targeting Mexico, could adversely affect sentiment and investment.

Despite higher economic growth rate of about 2% is expected in 2017, business insolvencies are forecast to increase again in 2017, by 3% year-on-year.

In 2017 the number of Belgian business insolvencies will still be much higher than the levels seen before the start of the global credit crisis in 2008.

The Danish economy has regained some of its international competitiveness due to structural reforms that addressed the issue of high labour costs.

With more than 58,000 cases in 2016 the number of business insolvencies was still about 5% higher than before the start of the credit crisis in 2008.