UNCTAD – Business e-commerce sales and the role of online platforms

The technical note provides the latest statistics on business e-commerce sales, showing a significant increase in 2021 to nearly $25 trillion across developed and developing economies. The majority of these sales are from business-to-business transactions, with developing economies having a lower share. Digital intermediary platforms play a key role in e-commerce, with a notable increase in transactions during the pandemic. The UN Task Group on Measuring E-commerce Value aims to improve the availability and comparability of statistics on e-commerce. Online retail sales saw rapid growth during the pandemic, with China, the UK, and South Korea leading in this area. E-commerce allows businesses to reach new customers domestically and internationally at a relatively low cost.