Global Online Shopping: Who Shops Online in the EU and Developing Economies

This report looks at how many people shop online, rather than how much they spend. The best public data comes from Eurostat's household survey for the European Union and from the World Bank's Global Findex survey for developing economies.

In the EU, 77% of internet users bought goods or services online in 2024 [1]. In many developing economies, the share of adults buying online remains below one in five [3].

The share of EU internet users who shop online grew from 57% in 2010 to 77% in 2024, an increase of 20 percentage points [1].

Clothing is the most popular online purchase. In 2023, 70% of EU internet users who had shopped online in the previous three months bought clothes, and 33% ordered meals from restaurants, fast-food chains or caterers [2].

Online shopping was most widespread in Ireland (96%), the Netherlands (94%), Denmark (91%) and Sweden (90%) in 2024 [2]. Germany ranked 8th in the EU with 83% [2].

Eastern European states have caught up. In 2024, the share of internet users shopping online reached 86% in Czechia, 85% in Slovakia and 79% in Estonia and Hungary [2].

Outside high-income economies, the picture is different. In the 2021 Global Findex, the share of adults who bought something online was under 20% in every surveyed economy in South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East and North Africa, except Iraq (21%) [3]. In the Islamic Republic of Iran, 31% of adults bought something online [3].

The World Bank released the Global Findex 2025 in July 2025. It is based on surveys of about 145,000 adults in 141 economies conducted during 2024 [4]. It includes indicators on digital payments, mobile phone ownership and internet use [4]. The report notes that about two-thirds of adults who shop online also pay for their purchases online [5]. Country-level online purchase shares from the 2025 edition will be added to this report once verified.

EU figures come from Eurostat's survey on ICT usage in households and by individuals, as published by the Council of the EU and Germany's Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). They measure the share of people who used the internet in the previous 12 months and bought or ordered goods or services online in that period. Note that the base is internet users, not the whole population.

Developing-economy figures come from the World Bank Global Findex Database 2021, which surveys adults aged 15 and over. Its base is all adults. The two sources therefore are not directly comparable. No FREEE.REPORT calculations are used.