Merchant Machine

Cyber shopping: The Countries That Spend The Most Online


By: Ian Wright | Last Updated:

The Covid-19 pandemic has meant that people are shopping online more than ever but which countries are spending the most money? 

Merchant Machine analyses every countries’ spending habits to reveal which nation is spending the most on cyber shopping and how much each country is spending on average. The study also looks at which eCommerce markets are the most popular across the globe and which have seen the biggest rise during COVID-19

The Top 10 Countries who Spend the Most Online

China contains the biggest online spenders, spending an average of $2,386 and a business to consumer expenditure of $1276.2 billion. Despite a decrease in online spending of 8.6% from 2019 to 23.8 trillion yuan or $3.5 trillion, the second-largest economy remains the top online spender in the world. 

Comparatively, the US exhibits a larger average online spend of $3,680 however only spends $830.7 billion in B2C transactions, 34.91 % lower than their Chinese counterparts. The UK on the other hand has an average online expenditure of $4,516, more than 89.27% than China although only sees a B2C spend of $233 billion.

The Top 10 Countries Who Spend the Largest Percentage of their Salary Online

In terms of salary, Turkey inhabitants spend the highest percentage of their average salary on online purchases at 20%. Similarly, in China, they spend an average of 20% while in Nigeria the average spend is 19% and Morocco residents spend 18% of their salary online.

In the United Arab Emirates and Switzerland on the other hand, residents only spend 4% of their salary online leaving 96% of their salary to put towards savings and additional expenses. 

The Fastest Growing Online Shopping Products

With the introduction of increased health and safety measures since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, it’s unsurprising that disposable gloves saw the largest increase in online purchases, increasing by a staggering 670%.

Other products which significantly increased in online purchases include bread machines with a 652% increase in purchases, cough and cold medicine with a 535% increase and soups which increased by 397%. 

The Largest Decline in Online Shopping Products

Holidays were off the cards for the majority of the population this year and this was reflected in our online shopping habits. There was a 77% decrease in purchases for luggage and suitcases and 64% decrease in cameras used to capture those special moments.

The additional ban of events and celebrations also unfortunately impacted those who planned to tie the knot in 2020 and there was a 63% decrease in bridal clothing and 62% decrease in men’s formal wear compared to the previous year. 

The Top Brands for Online Spending

Globally Amazon ranks as the most popular brand for people to purchase online. The website is available in 16 countries and sells more than 12 million products so there is no shortage of options on the eCommerce giant. 

In China however, JD.com comes out as the top brand for online purchases with 69,979 million net sales each year. Other top online brands that spenders migrate towards include eBay and Apple.

Please view the full data set below.

RegionCountryAverage Online Spend (USD)B2C Spend (Billion USD)
Asia PacificChina23861276.2
North AmericaUSA3680830.7
Western & Central EuropeUnited Kingdom4516233
Western & Central EuropeDenmark408419.9
Western & Central EuropeNorway340814.3
Asia PacificHong Kong330115.7
Western & Central EuropeFinland324612.5
Western & Central EuropeSwitzerland262314.5
Western & Central EuropeFrance2147106.2
North AmericaCanada225351.8
Western & Central EuropeAustria223111.8
Asia PacificJapan1666160.2
Western & Central EuropeGermany1824108.2
Western & Central EuropeNetherlands209828.9
Asia PacificTaiwan197329.7
Asia PacificAustralia193530
Asia PacificNew Zealand19974.4
Western & Central EuropeSweden189317.1
Western & Central EuropeBelgium182912.7
Asia PacificSouth Korea160458
Asia PacificSingapore16485.6
The Middle East & AfricaIsrael16297.8
Western & Central EuropeItaly151032.9
Western & Central EuropePortugal15555.9
Western & Central EuropeSpain144735.8
Western & Central EuropeGreece14535.6
The Middle East & AfricaUnited Arab Emirates131010.1
The Middle East & AfricaTurkey96015.8
The Middle East & AfricaMorocco9904.6
South & Central AmericaChile9135.1
Western & Central EuropeCzech Republic8895.6
Eastern Europe & the CISRussia78136.1
Eastern Europe & the CISRomania8043.1
South & Central AmericaUruguay7781.4
North AmericaMexico59529.3
Western & Central EuropePoland64511.8
The Middle East & AfricaSaudi Arabia60211.8
Asia PacificIndia42843.4
Eastern Europe & the CISLithuania5490.7
Western & Central EuropeHungary5252.1
South & Central AmericaArgentina47611.4
South & Central AmericaPeru4724.5
The Middle East & AfricaNigeria41718.5
South & Central AmericaBrazil37920.6
Eastern Europe & the CISLatvia4330.3
Asia PacificThailand4046.2
Eastern Europe & the CISEstonia4150.3
Western & Central EuropeSlovakia4111.3
Asia PacificIndonesia36014.4
South & Central AmericaColombia3517
Asia PacificMalaysia3525.6
Eastern Europe & the CISBulgaria3340.7
The Middle East & AfricaEgypt3047.5
Eastern Europe & the CISUkraine1492.9
Asia PacificVietnam1327.6
Asia PacificPhilippines1123.8
The Middle East & AfricaSouth Africa982.7
Eastern Europe & the CISKazakhstan891.1
The Middle East & AfricaKenya270.2
Country Shopaholics
RegionCountryAverage Online Spend (USD)Average Net Salary After Tax
The Middle East & AfricaTurkey9604727.52
Asia PacificChina238612235.56
The Middle East & AfricaNigeria4172212.68
The Middle East & AfricaMorocco9905376.12
Eastern Europe & the CISRussia7815251.92
Western & Central EuropeUnited Kingdom451630582.12
Western & Central EuropeGreece145310480.8
Western & Central EuropePortugal155512225.72
South & Central AmericaChile9137696.08
Asia PacificTaiwan197317091.24
The Middle East & AfricaEgypt3042679
South & Central AmericaUruguay7787189.92
Eastern Europe & the CISRomania8048128.44
North AmericaMexico5956096.36
Asia PacificIndonesia3603752.16
Western & Central EuropeFinland324634251.12
Asia PacificHong Kong330134945.32
Western & Central EuropeDenmark408443437.96
South & Central AmericaPeru4725068.44
South & Central AmericaColombia3513790.08
South & Central AmericaArgentina4765315.88
South & Central AmericaBrazil3794274.28
North AmericaUSA368042698.4
Western & Central EuropeNorway340839580.8
Asia PacificIndia4285381.88
Western & Central EuropeAustria223129024.4
Western & Central EuropeSpain144718971.88
North AmericaCanada225329860.56
Western & Central EuropeFrance214729071.56
Western & Central EuropeItaly151020467.92
Western & Central EuropeCzech Republic88913976.52
Western & Central EuropeBelgium182928856.04
Western & Central EuropePoland64510516.44
Western & Central EuropeNetherlands209835126.28
Asia PacificNew Zealand199733673.56
Asia PacificSouth Korea160429204.64
The Middle East & AfricaIsrael162929897.04
Western & Central EuropeGermany182433530.4
Western & Central EuropeSweden189334806.36
Western & Central EuropeHungary5259792.96
Asia PacificThailand4047547.4
Asia PacificJapan166632646.96
Asia PacificAustralia193542087.48
Eastern Europe & the CISLithuania54912089.88
Eastern Europe & the CISBulgaria3347938.72
The Middle East & AfricaUnited Arab Emirates131031567.08
Eastern Europe & the CISLatvia43311235.96
Asia PacificSingapore164844073.96
Western & Central EuropeSwitzerland262374486.64
Eastern Europe & the CISUkraine1494232.28
Western & Central EuropeSlovakia41112061.68
Asia PacificMalaysia35210451.88
The Middle East & AfricaSaudi Arabia60220064.6
Asia PacificPhilippines1123757.8
Asia PacificVietnam1324984.32
Eastern Europe & the CISEstonia41516152
Eastern Europe & the CISKazakhstan894994.52
The Middle East & AfricaSouth Africa9815174.6
The Middle East & AfricaKenya274654.2

Comments

  1. Hi there,

    I would love to know more about this data and what timeframe it represents? e.g. is this 2023 data and how was it measured?

    Thanks!
    Sophie

    Reply

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