Global e-commerce: Europe tops the rankings


An index posted on the 3rd of December on global e-commerce revealed that Europe is at the top of rankings. Eight countries of the continent were in the top ten of the chart.

The report was published by UNCTAD. It ranks 152 nations on their readiness for online shopping. The results were based on several factors. Some of these are access to secure internet servers, the reliability of postal solutions and the infrastructure and the number of residents that has an account with a financial institution or a mobile-money service provider.

For the second consecutive year, Netherlands has topped the list. It is followed by Switzerland. The only non-European countries in the top tens are Singapore, at the 3rd position and Australia which is at number 10. The index shows that the least developed countries are mostly at the bottom of the list. They occupy 18 of the 20 bottom positions.

Shamika N. Sirimanne, the director of UNCTAD’s unit responsible for preparing the annual index advances that this study, “shows how real and worrying the digital gap is between developed and developing countries”. For instance, in half a dozen of European countries, more than 80% of internet users shop online. However, this figure is less than 10% in most low and lower middle-income regions.


More European customers buy online

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