{ "question": "How many people shop online?", "answer": "About 2.3 billion people worldwide shopped online in 2021, according to UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD), 68% more than in 2017. It is the latest global count. In the EU, 78% of internet users aged 16 to 74 bought or ordered goods or services online in 2025 (Eurostat), up from 62% in 2015.", "period": "2021", "key_numbers": [ { "value": "2.3 billion", "label": "People who shopped online worldwide", "note": "UNCTAD, 2021", "stat": "ecommerce/global-online-shoppers" }, { "value": "78%", "label": "EU internet users aged 16 to 74 who bought online in the last 12 months", "note": "Eurostat, 2025" }, { "value": "90%", "label": "EU internet users aged 25 to 34 who bought online, the highest age group", "note": "Eurostat, 2025" }, { "value": "$27T", "label": "E-commerce sales by businesses in 43 economies, most of it business to business", "note": "UNCTAD estimate, 2022", "stat": "ecommerce/global-business-ecommerce-sales" }, { "value": "$2.5T", "label": "Digitally ordered exports (cross-border e-commerce) from the same 43 economies", "note": "UNCTAD estimate, 2021", "stat": "ecommerce/global-digitally-ordered-exports" }, { "value": "17.1%", "label": "Online share of US retail sales", "note": "US Census Bureau, Q2 2026, seasonally adjusted", "stat": "ecommerce/us-ecommerce-share-of-retail" } ], "tables": [ { "id": "shoppers", "title": "People who shop online worldwide, UNCTAD estimates", "columns": [ "Measure", "People", "Year" ], "rows": [ [ "People who shopped online worldwide", "2.3 billion", "2021" ], [ "People aged 15 and older who shopped online worldwide (earlier estimate)", "1.45 billion", "2018" ], [ "Online shoppers in China, the largest number of any country", "610 million", "2018" ], [ "Online shoppers who bought from abroad", "330 million", "2018" ] ], "row_ids": [ "global-shoppers-2021", "global-shoppers-2018", "china-shoppers-2018", "cross-border-shoppers-2018" ], "note": "UNCTAD news of 7 Jun 2024 (2021 figure, 68% more than 2017) and press release of 27 Apr 2020 (2018 figures, about a quarter of the world's population aged 15 and older and 9% more than 2017). The two releases use different estimates, so do not read the change between them as growth.", "source": "unctad" }, { "id": "by-country", "title": "Share of internet users who shop online, selected places", "columns": [ "Place", "Internet users who bought online", "Year", "Source" ], "rows": [ [ "European Union (ages 16 to 74, last 12 months)", "78%", "2025", "Eurostat" ], [ "European Union (ages 16 to 74, last 12 months)", "62%", "2015", "Eurostat" ], [ "United Kingdom", "87%", "2018", "UNCTAD" ], [ "Thailand", "14%", "2018", "UNCTAD" ], [ "India", "11%", "2018", "UNCTAD" ] ], "row_ids": [ "eu-2025", "eu-2015", "uk-2018", "thailand-2018", "india-2018" ], "note": "UNCTAD names these three of the top 20 economies as examples and gives no full 2018 list in its release. In the EU in 2025, 15% of internet users had never bought online; more than one in four had not bought online in 2025 in Portugal (26%), Bulgaria (27%), Italy (28%) and Cyprus (30%).", "source": "eurostat" }, { "id": "eu-by-group", "title": "EU internet users aged 16 to 74 who bought online in the last 12 months, by group (2025)", "columns": [ "Group", "Bought online" ], "rows": [ [ "Aged 16 to 24", "84%" ], [ "Aged 25 to 34", "90%" ], [ "Aged 35 to 44", "87%" ], [ "Aged 45 to 54", "80%" ], [ "Aged 55 to 64", "69%" ], [ "Aged 65 to 74", "55%" ], [ "Men", "78%" ], [ "Women", "78%" ], [ "Employees", "85%" ], [ "Students", "83%" ], [ "Pensioners", "60%" ], [ "Living in cities", "79%" ], [ "Living in rural areas", "76%" ], [ "All EU internet users 16 to 74", "78%" ] ], "row_ids": [ "age-16-24", "age-25-34", "age-35-44", "age-45-54", "age-55-64", "age-65-74", "sex-men", "sex-women", "status-employees", "status-students", "status-pensioners", "area-cities", "area-rural", "eu-all" ], "note": "Eurostat, E-commerce statistics for individuals (survey on ICT usage in households and by individuals), data extracted February 2026. By education: 59% with no or low formal education, 77% medium, more than 89% high.", "source": "eurostat" }, { "id": "online-vs-store", "title": "Online share of retail sales: how much shopping happens online", "columns": [ "Economy", "Online share of retail sales", "Period", "Source" ], "rows": [ [ "United States", "17.1%", "Q2 2026, seasonally adjusted", "US Census Bureau" ], [ "China, United Kingdom, Republic of Korea", "Around 25% to 30%", "As reported Jun 2024", "UNCTAD" ], [ "United States", "Around 15%", "As reported Jun 2024", "UNCTAD" ], [ "Most other economies UNCTAD covers", "Roughly 5% to 10%", "As reported Jun 2024", "UNCTAD" ] ], "row_ids": [ "share-us-census", "share-china-uk-korea", "share-us-unctad", "share-most-economies" ], "note": "A share of retail spending, not of people. UNCTAD's technical note of 13 Jun 2024 does not give a single year for these shares; it says online retail growth moderated in 2023.", "source": "unctad" }, { "id": "sales", "title": "Value of e-commerce, UNCTAD estimates", "columns": [ "Measure", "Value", "Year" ], "rows": [ [ "E-commerce sales by businesses in 43 economies (about three quarters of world GDP)", "Almost $27 trillion", "2022" ], [ "Same measure", "Approaching $25 trillion", "2021" ], [ "Digitally ordered exports from the same 43 economies", "Around $2.5 trillion (about 13% of their exports)", "2021" ], [ "Global e-commerce sales (earlier method)", "$25.6 trillion", "2018" ], [ "Cross-border business-to-consumer e-commerce sales", "$404 billion", "2018" ] ], "row_ids": [ "business-sales-2022", "business-sales-2021", "digital-exports-2021", "global-sales-2018", "cross-border-b2c-2018" ], "note": "UNCTAD technical note of 13 Jun 2024 (2021 and 2022) and press release of 27 Apr 2020 (2018). Most of the value is business to business; UNCTAD calls the export estimate relatively uncertain. The 2018 and 2022 series use different methods.", "source": "unctad" } ], "sources": [ { "name": "UNCTAD e-commerce and digital economy estimates", "publisher": "UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD)", "type": "research", "url": "https://unctad.org/" }, { "name": "ICT usage and e-commerce in enterprises", "publisher": "Eurostat", "type": "official", "url": "https://ec.europa.eu/" }, { "name": "Quarterly Retail E-Commerce Sales", "publisher": "US Census Bureau", "type": "official", "url": "https://www.census.gov/" }, { "name": "Facts and Figures", "publisher": "International Telecommunication Union (ITU)", "type": "official", "url": "https://www.itu.int/" } ], "content_changed_on": "2026-10-31", "page_url": "https://digitaltreed.com/statistics/ecommerce/how-many-people-shop-online", "csv_url": "https://digitaltreed.com/statistics/ecommerce/how-many-people-shop-online.csv" }