The significant uptick in consumer e-commerce activity fuelled by the COVID-19 pandemic was sustained in 2021, with online sales increasing markedly in value, despite the easing of restrictions in many countries, according to new figures from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). The greatest rises occurred in several developing countries.
The average share of internet users who made purchases online increased from 53 per cent before the pandemic (2019) to 60 per cent following the onset of the pandemic (2020/21), across 66 countries with statistics available.
In the United Arab Emirates, the share of internet users who shopped online more than doubled, from 27 per cent in 2019 to 63 per cent in 2020. In Bahrain the share tripled, reaching 45 per cent in 2020, and in Uzbekistan it rose from 4 per cent in 2018 to 11 per cent in 2020.
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