Turkey's e-commerce volume more than doubled in 2023 compared to the previous year, official data showed on Monday, suggesting that online shopping remains very strong, especially after the boom observed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to data released by the Ministry of Trade, total trade volume in the sector grew 115.15 percent year-on-year to 1.85 trillion Turkish lira ($57.47 billion).
The ministry released a lengthy report on Monday titled “E-Commerce Outlook in Turkey,” highlighting key developments in the e-commerce sector.
The report examines the place of e-commerce in gross domestic product (GDP), general trade and retail industry.
Apart from the surge in e-commerce volume, the number of orders is also expected to grow by 22.25% year-on-year to reach a total of 5.87 billion by 2023, according to the report.
Meanwhile, e-commerce volume is expected to reach 3.4 trillion Turkish lira this year, with the number of orders expected to rise to 6.67 billion.
According to the data, e-commerce volume increased significantly from 10.1% in 2019 to 20.3% last year, while the share of e-commerce volume in GDP was 6.8%.
The data showed that 51% of transaction volume was from goods and 49% from services, and when looking at card transaction volume, the figures were 63% from goods and 37% from services, respectively.
By sector, e-commerce volumes of white goods and small appliances accounted for the largest share with TRY 233 billion, followed by electronics with TRY 135 billion and clothing, footwear and accessories with TRY 127 billion.
In addition, based on the methodology developed by the Ministry, an index was created showing the adaptability of Turkish provinces to e-commerce and the most adapted regions were determined.
According to the index, the provinces with the highest e-commerce readiness are Istanbul, Kayseri, Çorum, Izmir and Kocaeli.
The number of companies engaged in e-commerce in Turkey reached 559,412 last year. The provinces with the highest number of e-commerce companies were Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Bursa and Antalya.
The data also showed that the busiest month in terms of transaction volume was November, driven by promotions and Teacher's Day. E-commerce volume in November was 50% higher than the monthly average for the entire year.
Furthermore, when looking at the age distribution of e-commerce spending, the 25-36 age group seems to stand out.
