The 2022 E-Commerce week of the United Nations Conference on Trade and development was held in Geneva from April 25 to 29. The impact of the COVID-19 on digital transformation and how e-commerce and related digital technologies can promote recovery became the focus of this meeting. The latest data show that despite the relaxation of restrictions in many countries, the rapid development of consumer e-commerce activities continued to grow significantly in 2021, with a significant increase in online sales.
In 66 countries and regions with statistical data, the proportion of online shopping among Internet users increased from 53% before the epidemic (2019) to 60% after the epidemic (2020-2021). However, the extent to which the epidemic has led to the rapid development of online shopping varies from country to country. Before the epidemic, the level of online shopping in many developed countries was relatively high (more than 50% of Internet users), while the penetration rate of consumer e-commerce in most developing countries was low.
E-commerce in developing countries is accelerating. In the UAE, the proportion of Internet users who shop online has more than doubled, from 27% in 2019 to 63% in 2020; In Bahrain, this proportion has tripled to 45% by 2020; In Uzbekistan, this proportion increased from 4% in 2018 to 11% in 2020; Thailand, which had a high penetration rate of consumer e-commerce before the COVID-19, increased by 16%, which means that by 2020, more than half of the country’s Internet users (56%) will be shopping online for the first time.
Data show that among European countries, Greece (up 18%), Ireland, Hungary and Romania (up 15% each) had the largest growth. One reason for this difference is that there are great differences in the degree of digitization among countries, as well as in the ability to quickly turn to digital technology to reduce economic chaos. Least developed countries in particular need support in developing e-commerce.
Post time: May-18-2022