According to data released today by Eurostat, in 2020, 19% of businesses in the EU and 19.5% in Greece made e-commerce sales, which reached at least 1% of their total turnover.
Steady growth in e-commerce sales in many countries is exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic and travel restrictions, which have prompted both consumers and businesses to increase their interest in online sales, according to Eurostat.
Denmark has the highest percentage of companies in the EU with online sales, over 1% of their turnover (38% of the total number of businesses). Ireland and Sweden came in second, with 34% each. They are followed by Lithuania (32%) and Belgium (31%), while Greece is close to the European average with a percentage of about 20%.
Belgium and Finland recorded the largest growth in online sales in 2020 and e-commerce sales of at least 1% of their total turnover from 31% and 24% respectively, a percentage increase of 5 percentage points over 2019.
In contrast, Romania recorded the largest decline among member states, down 6 percentage points, to 12%, followed by the Czech Republic (-5 percentage points, up 25%) and Portugal (-4 percentage points, up 16%).
The most common electronic sales to customers in the same country (22% of companies), sales to customers in other EU countries (9%) and other countries of the world (5%).
Businesses made electronic sales through their own business website or app (17% of businesses), or through the e-commerce marketplace (8%).
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