African eCommerce User Growth Beats Asia

It is a well-known reality that Asia is an international frontrunner in terms of technical innovation and the adoption of digital trends – and eCommerce is one of them. This is reflected in the weight that Asia has in international comparison in terms of total online marketplace GMV, for example, but it also comes apparent in consumers’ lifestyles. Thanks to super apps like WeChat in China, Asian consumers’ everyday activities are almost permanently intertwined with online shopping services. In combination with Asia’s large population, it is no wonder, thus, that the continent has the highest eCommerce users numbers in absolute terms compared to other world regions. When it comes to growth, however, it is a different and mostly underrated region which wins the international eCommerce user comparison:

In 2021, 2.4 billion people in Asia were active paying online shoppers according to the Statista Digital Market Outlook. This is more than half of the total population or in other words corresponds to an eCommerce penetration rate of 53%. By 2025, Statista Digital Market Outlook analysts expect eCommerce user numbers to hit 3.1 billion. This translates into an outstanding user growth rate of 32%. Other regions like Australia, the Americas, or Europe1 will grow their eCommerce user numbers by less than 20%. But there is one other region which even beats Asia in terms of eCommerce user numbers growth: frequently overlooked Africa. Even though absolute user numbers are still low in comparison, Africa is projected to see an increase in active online shoppers of an incredible 56%, from 334 million to 518 million users between 2021 and 2025.

While eCommerce penetration in Africa was as low as 13% in 2017, according to the Statista Digital Market Outlook, the penetration rate increased steadily by around 3 to 4 percentage points each year, reaching 28% or a total eCommerce user number of 334 million in 2021. Surprisingly, there was no major jump in user numbers in corona year 2020, as one might expect. eCommerce penetration increased by 4 percentage points from 20% in 2019 to 24% in 2020. Statista Digital Market Outlook analysts expect the trend in Africa to continue just as smoothly until 2025, hitting total user numbers of 519 million or a penetration rate of 40%.

1: ecommerceDB has just released their brand-new Trend Report “eCommerce in Europe 2021”. Check it out if you are interested in comprehensive analyses on the development of Europe as an eCommerce market, including market trends, country comparisons, consumer behaviour, top players, and more.