Europe is second biggest e-commerce continent

Europe larger than North America

In 2013, European B2C internet trade reached 363.1 billion euro, narrowly beating North American sales at 333.5 billion euro. Asia is still larger, with 406.1 billion euro in turnover. Ecommerce Europe has compiled all these numbers in an extensive report on European e-commerce.

The United States are still the world’s most important e-commerce country with a turnover of 315.4 billion euro. China and the United Kingdom are numbers 2 and 3, worth 247.3 and 107.1 billion euro respectively. Together, these three represent 57 % of the world’s total e-commerce trade. Japan, Germany, France, Australia, Canada, Russia and South Korea are also in the top 10.

European e-commerce up 16.3 % in 2013

Out of 816 million Europeans, 565 have access to the internet and 264 million have bought something online. In total, they acquired 363.1 billion euros’ worth of products and services online last year – lifting the European e-commerce turnover 16.3 % higher compared to 2012.

Three European countries make up more than half of the continent’s total expenditure online: United Kingdom (107.2 billion euro), Germany (63.4 billion euro) and France (51.1 billion euro) realise 61 % of Europe’s e-commerce market.

Eastern Europe grows fastest

Out of the 161 million people who live in Western Europe (United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Belgium and the Netherlands), 142 million have access to the internet and 95 million have purchased online. Trailing the Brits, the French and the Germans, the Dutch are fourth with 10.58 billion euro. Belgium is fifth with 3.82 billion euro. On average, Western European shoppers spent 1,864 euro on average in 2013.

In Central Europe Germany obviously leads the pack by far with 63.4 billion euro, making up two thirds of the region’s online turnover. Austria and Switzerland both manage slightly more than 10 billion euro, twice as much as Poland (5.2 billion euro). The Czech Republic (2.1 billion euro) and Hungary (0.8 billion euro) are next, while Slovakia and Slovenia are untapped territories.

Southern Europe is still way behind, despite a 19 % growth in 2013. Spain and Italy, the two local powerhouses, bring in more than 50 % of the region’s turnover (14.4 and 11.3 billion euro out of 41 billion euro). Turkey (8.93 billion euro), Greece (3.2 billion euro) and Portugal (2.6 billion euro) are next, while Croatia, Cyprus and Malta are virtually nonexistent. While 65 % of the 212 million South European inhabitants have access to internet, only 48 million actually shop online.

Northern Europe has 29 million people (out of 32 million) with internet and 19 million of those have bought online. It is the smallest of the 5 regions, but it has the highest average spend at 1,926 euro. Sweden (8.62 billion euro) and Denmark (8.37 billion euro) are ahead of Norway (7.6 billion euro) and Finland (6.5 billion euro). Lithuania, Iceland, Latvia and Estonia are basically negligible.

Eastern Europe has 248 million inhabitants, but only 34 million purchase something online – caused by the extremely low internet penetration of 54.4 % (Western and Northern European internet availability reaches 88 %). Nearly its entire online turnover (15.5 out of 19.3 billion euro, up 47 % from 2012) comes from Russia. Ukraine (1.85 billion euro) and Romania (1.04 billion euro) are numbers 2 and 3, with every other country not even worth mentioning.

The full report and regional detailed reports can be found here.