European e-commerce: expected to grow 11% at the end of 2022

The Ecommerce Europe and EuroCommerce associations have been tracking the evolution of e-commerce in Europe, collecting data from over 37 countries on the European continent. Today we want to take a look at some key findings of this report, now that the year is entering its final stage. 

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Among the key findings of the European E-Commerce Report 2022 is the importance of the EU-27 and neighboring digital economies. 

Overall, European e-commerce experienced growth in B2C turnover in 2021, despite some countries reporting lower e-commerce sales due to the lessening of Covid-19 pandemic measures. As has been the trend for quite some time, Eastern Europe has experienced higher growth rates in B2C e-commerce sales than many Western European countries, however, Western Europe still holds the largest share of total turnover at 63% compared to Eastern Europe’s 2%.

Albania and Malta: cross-border e-commerce opposite poles  

Another interesting finding of the European E-Commerce Report 2022 is that Albania and Malta sit on opposite chairs at the table of cross-border e-commerce. 

Albania's online shopping is almost entirely to local companies, with a whooping 93% of the online sales going to national companies or brands. While Malta’s online sales to foreign nations reach 87% of its grand total. 

Digitalization remains vital for European e-commerce 

One fact highlighted by this report is that the digitalization processes for European brands and companies continue to expand. Digitalization was already significantly pushed by the Covid-19 pandemic, during which e-commerce and retail played an essential role in both the economy and society, but even when e-commerce might have experienced some deceleration, the digitalization of European companies has kept on growing.  

These developments are reflected in this year’s findings, which show that in 2021, total European e-commerce grew to €718bn with a growth rate of 13%. 

This is up from €633bn in 2020. In 2022, growth rates are forecast to continue their upward trend. However, we can notice that the growth is slightly stabilizing, with an expected growth rate of 11% and a turnover of €797bn.

You can read the full report here!