E-commerce statistics – explanation of statistics

E-commerce has increased slightly in recent years

In the EU, between 2012 and 2022, the share of businesses with electronic sales increased from 16.4% in 2012 to 22.9% in 2022. Over the same period, businesses’ sales through electronic sales increased by 4.9 percentage points (pp), from 13.1% to 18.0%, but sales in 2022 were down 1.8 pp compared to the highest shares recorded in 2019 and 2020 (Figure 1).

Figure 1: E-commerce and e-sales revenues, EU, 2012-2022
(Proportion of number of companies, proportion of total sales)
sauce: Eurostat (isoc_ec_esels) and (isoc_ec_evals)

The percentage of companies conducting e-sales and the amount of sales from e-sales vary significantly by company size. In 2022, 45.9% of large companies are conducting e-sales, accounting for 22.9% of total sales of companies of this size. Among medium-sized companies, 30.2% are conducting e-sales, accounting for 15.1% of total sales of companies of this size. In contrast, 20.8% of small companies are conducting e-sales, accounting for 8.1% of sales of these companies (Figure 2).

Figure 2: E-commerce and e-sales revenues, by size, EU, 2022
(Proportion of number of companies, proportion of total sales)
sauce: Eurostat (isoc_ec_esels) and (isoc_ec_evals)

Web sales are mainstream in EU countries

E-sales can be made via a website or app (web-sales) or automatically via EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) type messages. Companies can offer their clients one or both options. In 2022, the percentage of companies with e-sales in EU countries ranged from 12.9% in Romania and 13.4% in Luxembourg to 38.9% in Lithuania, Sweden (38.1%), Denmark (36.7%) and Ireland (35.1%) (Figure 3).

Figure 3: Electronic sales in 2022 (separately by web sales and EDI sales)
(Percentage of companies)
sauce: Eurostat (isoc_ec_esels)

As shown in Figure 3, in 2022, 17.1% of EU companies conducted e-sales using only websites or apps, 3.2% used only EDI-type sales, and 2.6% used both channels of e-sales.

In 2022, web sales were the main mode of electronic sales across EU member states. The percentage of businesses that only accept electronic orders via their website or app ranged from 33.7% in Lithuania to 9.6% in Romania. Businesses find it important to stand out on the Internet. As a result, businesses increasingly offer websites and apps for various purposes. In particular, websites and apps allow customers to order and purchase electronically.

In contrast, the percentage of businesses using only EDI-type messages for electronic sales in 2022 ranged from 8.1% of businesses in Denmark and 8% in Sweden to less than 1% in Greece (0.4%). The percentage of businesses using both channels was highest in Denmark and Sweden (both over 6%) and lowest in Greece (0.6%) and Bulgaria (0.7%).

Looking at the breakdown of economic activity, as shown in Figure 4, in 2022, almost all companies conducting electronic sales in the “Accommodation” sector received orders via a website or app (99.7%), and 7.3% conducted electronic sales via EDI-type messages.

Figure 4: Breakdown of electronic sales via web sales and EDI-based sales by economic activity, EU, 2022
(Percentage of companies conducting online sales)
sauce: Eurostat (isoc_ec_eseln2)

Almost half of the “manufacturing” companies with electronic sales report receiving orders via EDI-type messages (48.2%), followed by companies in the “transport and storage” sector (32.8%) and companies in the “professional, scientific and technical activities” sector (26.5%). For “manufacturing” companies, the percentage of companies with electronic sales via website or app and using EDI-type messages is relatively close compared to companies in other activities: 67.3% and 48.2%, respectively. For all other economic activities, most companies receive electronic orders mainly via website or app (Figure 4).

It is noteworthy that among small and medium-sized companies that conduct electronic sales, 89.7% of companies also conduct web sales, of which 19.6% conduct sales via EDI-type messages. For mid-sized companies, the difference between the shares of sales via the two channels is smaller: 77.5% of companies conduct electronic sales via the website and 39% conduct EDI-type sales. The percentage gap between web-based and EDI-type sales is narrowest for large companies (Figure 5).

Figure 5: Web sales and EDI sales by volume, EU, 2022
(Percentage of companies conducting online sales)
sauce: Eurostat (isoc_ec_esels)

EDI sales account for a higher share of sales than Web sales

Companies that conducted electronic sales in 2022 mostly did so via websites rather than EDI-type messages, but in terms of the value of electronic sales, the trend is the opposite: sales derived from EDI-type sales exceeded sales derived from web sales. In 2022, EU companies derived 18% of their total sales from electronic sales, consisting of orders via websites or apps (6.7% of total sales) or orders via EDI-type messages (11.2% of total sales) (Figure 6).

Among all EU member states, the share of sales made through e-commerce ranges from 6.3% in Bulgaria to 30.5% in the Czech Republic, followed by Denmark (28.6%) and Ireland (28.4%) (see Eurostat data source isoc_ec_evals).

Figure 6 shows the percentage of total sales that were Web-based and EDI-based sales. The percentage of total sales that were EDI-based sales ranged from 2 percent in Greece and Bulgaria, to 21.6 percent in Denmark and 21.3 percent in the Czech Republic. The highest percentages of total sales that were Web-based were in Ireland (19.7 percent) and Sweden (10.5 percent), while Italy, Austria, Bulgaria, Slovenia, France, and Poland all contributed less than 5 percent.

Figure 6: Electronic sales revenue in 2022 (separately by web sales and EDI sales)
(% of total sales)
sauce: Eurostat (isoc_ec_evals)

As Figure 7 shows, large companies with more than 250 employees and self-employed workers are, as a rule, more reliant on ICT and standards to integrate EDI-type sales into their business processes.Large companies, in fact, had the highest share of sales made through electronic sales (22.9 percent), most of which came from EDI-type sales (15.2 percent).

Figure 7: Electronic sales revenue in 2022 (by web sales and EDI sales, by size)
(% of total sales)
sauce: Eurostat (isoc_ec_evals)

The industry with the highest percentage of sales derived from web sales in 2022 was the “accommodation industry” at 35.5%, followed by “information and communications” (16.7%) and “retail” (11.1%). The industries with the highest percentage of sales derived from EDI-type sales were “manufacturing” (17.2%) and “electricity, gas, steam, air conditioning, and water” (13.0%) (Figure 8).

Figure 8: Electronic sales by economic activity, web sales and EDI sales in 2022
(% of total sales)
sauce: Eurostat (isoc_ec_evaln2)

Online sales are primarily conducted through the company's own website and app.

Looking more closely at web sales, these can be done through your own website or app, or through e-commerce marketplaces available on external websites or apps. E-commerce marketplaces, and online platforms in general, have the potential to drive economic growth by allowing sellers to access new markets and reach new customers at a lower cost.

In the survey on “ICT Use and E-Commerce in Enterprises”, respondents were asked to indicate whether they engaged in web sales of goods and services via the enterprise's own website or app, or via the website or app of an e-commerce marketplace. Enterprises can use one or both of the web sales possibilities.

As Figure 9 shows, in 2022, 84.7% of EU companies conducting web sales used their own website or app, and 42.9% used e-commerce marketplaces. The highest proportion of companies conducting web sales via their own website or app was in Estonia (97.3%), Denmark (95.6%) and Finland (95.1%), while the lowest was in Lithuania (42.8%).

Estonia (16.1%), Finland (21.4%) and Denmark (23.0%) have the lowest percentage of companies selling via marketplaces on the web, while Lithuania (82.3%), Poland (59.5%) and Italy (57.7%) have the highest percentage of companies selling via marketplaces on the web.

Figure 9: Web sales by channel in 2022
(Percentage of companies selling online)
sauce: Eurostat (isoc_ec_esels)

Web sales revenue is generated primarily through sales made via the company's own website or app.

Furthermore, when it comes to web sales, EU companies will realize 6.7% of their total sales in 2022 from web sales, of which 5.8% will come from web sales via their own website or app, and 0.9% from sales via online marketplaces. The highest share of web sales via their own website or app was recorded in Ireland (19.2%). The highest share of sales via marketplaces was recorded in Lithuania (4.0%) (Figure 10).

Figure 10: Web sales revenue by channel in 2022
(% of total sales)
sauce: Eurostat (isoc_ec_evals)

Sales primarily from other companies and public institutions via the web

In 2022, web sales accounted for 6.7% of total company sales. Of these, 3.6% came from web sales to other companies and public institutions (B2BG) and 3.1% from web sales to private consumers (B2C). The highest share of sales from web sales to other companies and public institutions was recorded in Ireland (13.1%), while in France and Poland the share recorded was less than 2%. The share of web sales to private consumers in total company sales ranged from 0.7% in Poland to 6.6% in Ireland (Figure 11).

Figure 11: Web sales revenue by customer type, 2022
(% of total sales)
sauce: Eurostat (isoc_ec_evals)