Online shopping is continuing to grow in the European Union (EU). With high street shopping affected by the COVID-19 restrictions and changes in habits and preferences, e-commerce can be expected to grow further.
In the 12 months prior to the 2020 survey, 89% of people aged 16 to 74 in the EU had used the internet, 72% of whom had bought or ordered goods or services for private use. Online shopping increased by 4 percentage points (pp) compared with 2019 (68% of internet users) and by 10 pp compared with 2015 (62%).
More than 8 in 10 internet users in the Netherlands (91%), Denmark (90%), Germany (87%), Sweden (86%) and Ireland (81%) had bought or ordered goods or services over the internet in the 12 months prior to the survey. On the other hand, fewer than 50% had shopped online in Bulgaria (42%), Romania (45%) and Italy (49%; 2019 data).