联合国贸易发展委员会-电子商务销售和在线平台的作用高级副本（英）-2024

UNITEDNATIONSCONFERENCEONTRADEANDDEVELOPMENT

UNCTADTechnicalnotesonICTfordevelopment|No.1

Businesse-commercesales

andtheroleofonlineplatforms

Advancecopy

©2024,UnitedNations

Thisworkisavailablethroughopenaccess,bycomplyingwiththeCreativeCommonslicencecreatedforintergovernmentalorganizations,at

/licenses/by/3.0/igo/

.

Thefindings,interpretationsandconclusionsexpressedhereinarethoseoftheauthorsanddonotnecessarilyreflecttheviewsoftheUnitedNationsoritsofficialsorMemberStates.

ThedesignationsemployedandthepresentationofmaterialonanymapinthisworkdonotimplytheexpressionofanyopinionwhatsoeveronthepartoftheUnitedNationsconcerningthelegalstatusofanycountry,territory,cityorareaorofitsauthorities,orconcerningthedelimitationofitsfrontiersorboundaries.

MentionofanyfirmorlicensedprocessdoesnotimplytheendorsementoftheUnitedNations.

Photocopiesandreproductionsofexcerptsareallowedwithpropercredits.

Thispublicationhasnotbeenformallyedited.

UnitedNationspublicationissuedbytheUnitedNationsConferenceonTradeandDevelopment

UNCTAD/DTL/ECDE/2024/3(Advancecopy)

eISBN:978-92-1-106449-0

Tableofcontents

1.

E-commerceisanincreasinglyimportantsaleschannelfor

businesses 1

2.

Newlyavailablestatisticsonbusinesse-commercesales 3

3.

Developingeconomieshaveroomtogrowe-commerce 7

4.

Theeconomicscaleofbusinesse-commercesalesvaries 9

5.

Onlyasmallminorityofbusinesse-commercesales

takeplaceinternationally 15

6.

Business-to-consumere-commerceisincreasing 23

7.

Transactionsthroughonlineplatformshave

sharplyincreased 31

8.

Conclusions 35

References 37

AnnexA.

Sourcesfore-commercesalesvaluesandassociatedfigures 38

AnnexB.

Sourcesforinternationale-commerce 41

AnnexC.

Sourcesforonlineretailsales 43

AnnexD.

Sourcesforonlineplatformtransactions 46

iii

Businesse-commercesalesandtheroleofonlineplatforms

UNCTADTechnicalnotesonICTfordevelopment|No.1

Summary

Thistechnicalnotepresentsthelateststatisticsonthevalueofe-commercesalesbybusinesses.Itbenefitsfromanotableincreaseinavailabilitybroughtaboutbytherelease,byEurostat,offiguresformanyEUandpartnercountries.

In2021,approachingUS$25trillionofe-commercesalesweregeneratedbybusinessesacross43developedanddevelopingeconomiesaccountingforaroundthreequartersofworldwideGDP.Thisrepresentsa15percentincreaseoverpre-pandemic(2019)levelsandsalesareestimatedtohaverisenafurther10percent-toalmost$27trillion-in2022.

Theshareofbusinessturnovergeneratedthroughe-commercevarieswidelyintheeconomiesanalysed,fromlessthanonepercenttoasmuchas30percent.Inalmostallcases,themajorityofe-commercesalesbybusinessesaremadetootherbusinessesororganizations.Inmost,theshareofbusiness-to-consumersalesislessthanaquarter.

Whiledevelopingeconomiesgeneratearound40percentofglobalGDP,theirshareinbusinesse-commercesalesisconsiderablylower.

Thebulkofe-commercesalesacrossthese43developedanddevelopingeconomies,whichalsoaccountforaroundthreequartersofexportsglobally,occurbetweenbuyersandsellersresidentinthesameeconomicterritory.Itisestimatedthatdigitallyorderedexports(i.e.internationale-commercesales)fromtheseeconomieswerewortharound$2.5trillionin2021.Thisequatestoaround13percentoftotalexportsofgoodsandservices.However,asthereislimiteddataondigitallyorderedtrade,thisestimateisrelativelyuncertain.

Statisticsononlineretailsales,asubsetofbusiness-to-consumere-commerce,sharethesamepatternofrapidgrowththatwasboostedduringthepandemic.Thisgrowthmoderatedsomewhatin2023aspandemicrestrictionsanddisruptionsabated.China,theUnitedKingdom,andtheRepublicofKoreastandoutforhavingmarkedlyhigheronlineretailsalesthanothereconomies,ataround25to30percentofallretailsales.TheUnitedStatesfollowsataround15percentwhilethebulkofeconomiesfallinarangeofroughly5-10percent.

Digitalintermediaryplatforms(DIPs)arekeyplayersinthee-commercelandscape.Thevalueoftransactionsthrough37majorDIPsincreasedbyover55percentduringthepandemic.

TheTaskGrouponMeasuringE-commerceValue(TG-eCOM),convenedbyUNTradeandDevelopment,bringstogethervariouscountriescoveredinthisreport,aswellasinternationalorganizations,todevelopinternationallyagreedguidelinesandrecommendationsthatcanserveasabasisforcapacitybuildingandtechnicalassistancetoimprovetheavailabilityandcomparabilityofstatisticsone-commerce.

iv

Businesse-commercesalesandtheroleofonlineplatforms

UNCTADTechnicalnotesonICTfordevelopment|No.1

1.

E-commerceisanincreasinglyimportantsaleschannelfor

businesses

SellingovertheInternetisincreasingly

importantfordoingbusiness.Today,manyenterprisesare“borndigital”,sellingonlineonly,whileothersmixincreasingonline

saleswithtakingordersbyothermeans,notablyoverthephoneorinperson.Forsuccessfulonlinesellers,keybenefits

includetheabilitytoreachnewcustomersdomesticallyandabroad,inawaythat

isrelativelylowcostandconvenientfor

bothbuyersandsellers.Onlineonly

businessescanalsoavoidthecostsof

operatingcustomer-facingsalespremises.

E-commerceisdefinedas“thesaleorpurchaseofgoodsorservices,

conductedovercomputernetworksbymethodsspecificallydesignedforthepurposeofreceivingorplacingoforders”(OECD,2009).1

Furthermore,“thegoodsorservicesare

orderedbythosemethods,butthepaymentandtheultimatedeliveryofthegoodsor

servicesdonothavetobeconducted

online”(OECD,2009).Whilee-commerceorderingisoftenaccompaniedbyonlinepayment,thisisnotadefiningfeatureofit;ordersplacedonlinebutpaidforon

delivery,oncollection,oratanyother

time,bycard,cash,oranyothermeansallcountase-commercetransactions.

Anygoodorservicecanbeorderedviae-commerce,andsoe-commerceis

nota“sector”initsownright,butcutsacrossallindustriesandproducts.

Additionally,“ane-commercetransactioncanbebetweenenterprises,households,individuals,Governments,andotherpublicorprivateorganizations”(OECD,2009).

Nevertheless,both“Measuringthevalue

ofe-commerce”(UNCTAD,2023)and

theHandbookonMeasuringDigitalTrade(IMF,OECD,UNCTAD,andWTO,2023)

emphasizethecentralroleofbusinesses

inthee-commercelandscape.Theyalso

highlightthelimitedavailabilityofstatisticsasakeybarriertounderstandingthetrueextentoftheeconomicroleofe-commerceanddigitallyorderedtradeinfacilitatingtheplacingandreceivingofordersbetween

businessesandtheircustomers.

E-commerce

isdefined

as“thesale

orpurchase

ofgoods

orservices,

conducted

overcomputernetworks

bymethodsspecificallydesignedforthepurposeofreceivingorplacingoforders”.

1AswellassalesovertheInternet,thisincludesordersplacedoverprivatenetworks,suchasthoseusedtomanagesupplychainsincertainindustries.Itexcludesordersplacedbyphone,fax,ormanuallytypedemailsbecausealthoughthesemaybemadeovertheInternet,theyarenotviamethodsspecificallydesignedfortheplacingandreceivingoforders.

1

Businesse-commercesalesandtheroleofonlineplatforms

UNCTADTechnicalnotesonICTfordevelopment|No.1

2.

Newlyavailablestatisticsonbusinesse-commercesales

Inresponsetotheabovecallforaction,

EurostatconductedanexerciseinwhichEuropeanUnionmemberstatesand

partnercountriesreportingresultsfrom

thecommunitysurveyonICTusageande-commerceinenterpriseswereasked

forpermissiontopublishestimates

ofthevalueofe-commercesalesby

businesses.ThesehavebeentransmittedtoEurostatforatleastsevenyears,forthepurposeofcalculatingEUaggregates.

Asaresult,morestatisticsonthevalueofbusinesse-commercesalesare

nowavailable.2Thisincludes19of27

EUmemberstates(includingalimited

numberwhichpreviouslypublished

statisticsthemselves,ashighlighted

inUNCTAD(2023)),andafurtherfive

partnercountries(includingtheUnited

Kingdomuptoreportingyear2019).

Thiscreatesasignificantimprovementintheavailabilityofe-commercestatisticsespeciallyfordevelopedeconomies.

Thesenewlyavailablestatisticscanbecombinedwithestimatescoveringa

furthereightEU27countries,asdetailedinBox1,andpresentedalongside

statisticsreportedbyotherdeveloped

anddevelopingeconomies,includingtheUnitedStatesandChina.Theresultisameasureofbusinesse-commercesalescovering43economieswhichgeneratearound76percent3ofglobalGDPand73percent4ofexportsworldwide.

Almost$25trillionofe-commerce

salesweregeneratedbybusinessesacross43developedanddevelopingeconomiesin2021(Figure1).This

representsa15percentincreaseoverpre-pandemic(2019)levels.

E-commercesalesareestimatedtohaverisenbyafurther10percent-to$27trillion-in2022.

E-commercesalesare

estimatedtohaverisenbyafurther

10percent-

to$27trillion

-in2022

2Availableat

https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/isoc_ec_evalsm/default/

table?lang=en&category=isoc.isoc_e.isoc_ec

3Basedon

/datacentre/dataviewer/US.GDPTotal

4Basedon

/datacentre/dataviewer/US.GoodsAndServicesBpm6

3

Businesse-commercesalesandtheroleofonlineplatforms

UNCTADTechnicalnotesonICTfordevelopment|No.1

Figure1

E-commercesalesbybusinesses,2016–2022

Businessesin43developedanddevelopingeconomiesgeneratingaroundthreequartersofglobalGDP

US$trillions

26

24

22

20

18

16

14

12

10

8

6

4

2

0

2016201720182019202020212022*

Source:UNCTADbasedonEurostatdigitaleconomyandsocietydatabase,EurostatStructuralBusinessStatisticsdatabase,andnationalstatisticalagencies(seeAnnexA).

Note:OtherEurope:BosniaandHerzegovina,Serbia.

EuropeanEconomicArea(EEA)consistsoftheEU27statesplusNorwayandIceland(Lichtensteinisexcludedduetomissingdata).WithintheEEAfigure,themonetaryvalueofe-commercesalesbybusinessesisnotavailabledirectlyforBelgium,Bulgaria,Cyprus,Italy,Ireland,Latvia,Romania,andSweden.Ithasthereforebeenderivedbyapplyingthepublishedsharesofe-commercetransactionsintotalturnoverfromthesurveyofICTusageande-commerceinenterprisestotheturnoverofbusinessesoftherelevantsize(10+personsemployed)andintherelevantindustriesfromtheStructuralBusinessStatistics.

*From2016-2021,extrapolatedfiguresaccountforbetweenoneandsixpercentoftheoveralltotal.Withturnover-basedestimates(ratherthandirectlyreportedvalues)foreightEEAcountries,between7and12percentoftheoveralltotalisestimated.In2022,extrapolatedfiguresfornineeconomies,plusturnover-basedestimatesforsevenEEAcountiesandanestimatefore-commercesalesbyU.S.manufacturers,accountforonethirdoftheoveralltotal.Forthisreason,the2022figureshouldberegardedasindicative.Formoreinformationonthecompilation,comparability,androbustnessofthesefiguresseeBox1.

4

PhilippinesIndonesia

HongKong,China

OtherEuropeThailand

Malaysia

Singapore

(servicesonly)

CanadaAustralia

UnitedKingdom

JapanChina

European

EconomicArea(EEA)

UnitedStates

Businesse-commercesalesandtheroleofonlineplatforms

UNCTADTechnicalnotesonICTfordevelopment|No.1

Box1

Compilingbusinesse-commercesales

Figure1aggregatesstatisticsonthevalueofbusinesse-commercesales,aspublishedbyNationalStatisticalOfficesorothercompetentgovernmentagenciesalongwithestimatesbyUNTradeandDevelopmentwherenecessary.Thisyieldsthevalueofe-commercesalesacrosseconomiesrepresentingaround76percentofglobalGDPand73percentofglobaltradeingoodsandservicesshowninFigure2.

However,thereareuncertaintiesaroundthesefigures.

Firstly,allstatisticshaveadegreeofuncertaintyaroundthem,reflectingsamplingandnon-samplingerrors.5Additionally,theindustriesandfirmsizescoveredvaryacrosseconomies,asdoestheinclusionoftaxes,discounts,andreturns(UNCTAD,2023).

Secondly,becausemonetaryvaluesofbusiness’e-commercesalesarenotavailabledirectlyforBelgium,Bulgaria,Cyprus,Italy,Ireland,Latvia,RomaniaandSweden,UNTradeandDevelopmenthaveestimatedthesebyapplyingthepublishednationalsharesofe-commercesalesinbusinessturnoverfromthebusinessICTsurveys6tobusinessesturnover,availablefromtheStructuralBusinessStatistics7database.Themeasureoftotalbusinessturnoverusedforthisderivationwasalignedasfaraspossiblegiventheavailabledata,withthefirmsize(10+personsemployed)andindustries8coveredbybusinessICTsurveysinEurope.Theseestimatesconstitutearound20-30percentoftheEEAtotaland5-6percentoftheoveralltotal.

EstimatesweremadeinthesamewayfortheotherEUandpartnereconomieswiththesameinformationavailable.Onaverage,thebusinesse-commercesalesfiguresdirectlyreportedbythesecountriesarearound3percentlowerthanthederivedestimates.However,thereisconsiderablevariationinthisdisparitybetweencountries(includingindirection)andtheactualbusinesse-commercesalesintheeightcountriesbeingestimatedthiswaymaywellbesignificantlyhigherorlowerthantheestimatesderived.Thishasbeenaccountedforbyorderingtheobserveddisparities(calculatedbydividingeachreportede-commercesalesfigurebythecorrespondingestimatedfigure)bysize.Thevaluesatthe20thand80thpercentiles,respectivelyindicatinga12percentoverestimateanda4percentunderestimate,arethenusedtocomputearangeofuncertaintyaroundtheestimatesfortheeightcountriesmentionedabove.

Additionally,thevalueofU.S.manufacturers’e-commercesalesin2022,isnotyetavailable(whileitisforservices,retailsales,andwholesalesales).Manufacturerscomprisearound40percentofbusinesse-commercesalesintheU.S.Thecentralestimatethereforereliesonapplyingthe2021shareofe-commerceinmanufacturers’sales(69.6percent)tototal“sales,valueofshipments,orrevenue”aspresentedinthe2022manufacturingsummarystatistics(seeAnnexAforsources).

5Seeforinstance

.uk/methodology/methodologytopicsandstatisticalconcepts/

uncertaintyandhowwemeasureit

6Availableat

https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/isoc_ec_evals/default/

table?lang=en&category=isoc.isoc_e.isoc_ec

7

https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/sbs_sc_sca_r2__custom_9876920/default

and

https://

ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/SBS_SC_OVW/default

8AllactivitiesexceptAgriculture,forestry,andfishing;Miningandquarrying;Financialandinsuranceactivities;Publicadministration,defence,education,humanhealth,andsupportserviceactivities;Arts,entertainmentandrecreation;Activitiesofmembershiporganisations;Repairofpersonalandhouseholdgoods(repairofcomputersandcommunicationequipmentisincluded);otherpersonalserviceactivities(e.g.hairdressing,laundry,funerialservices).

5

Businesse-commercesalesandtheroleofonlineplatforms

UNCTADTechnicalnotesonICTfordevelopment|No.1

Mostimportantly,ineachperiod,therearemissingobservationsforbetweenfiveandnineeconomies.Wherepossible,theseareestimatedbylinearinterpolationbetweentwoavailableperiods.Inothercases,theavailableobservationsareextrapolatedforwardsorbackwardsintimebasedonthegrowthratesobservedacrosscountries.ThecentralestimateshowninFigure2,whichmatchestheoveralltotalinFigure1,assumesthatthesemissingvaluesfollowthemediantrendacrossalleconomieswithobservationsavailable.Thelowerandupperboundsoftherangeofestimatesrespectivelyreflectthetrendsatthe20thand80thpercentileswhentheobservedgrowthratesareorderedfromlowesttohighest.Theyalsoaccountforuncertaintyintheturnover-basedestimatesforthe8EEAeconomies,assetoutabove.

From2016to2021,betweenoneandsixpercentofthecentralestimateisbasedonextrapolatedfigures.In2022,extrapolatedestimatesforninecountriesaccountfor11percentofthetotal.WiththeestimatesforeightEUcountriesandforU.S.manufacturers,estimatescompriseonethirdofthecentralestimatein2022.The2022figureshouldthereforeberegardedasindicative.

Figure2

E-commercesalesbybusinessesacross43economies,2016–2022

E-commercesalesRangeofestimates

US$trillions

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

Businessesin43developedanddevelopingeconomiesgeneratingaroundthreequartersofglobalGDP

2016201720182019202020212022*

Source:UNCTADbasedonEurostatdigitaleconomyandsocietydatabase,EurostatStructuralBusinessStatisticsdatabase,andnationalstatisticalagencies(seeAnnexA).

Note:Developedeconomiescovered(c80%oftotalin2021-22):Australia,Austria,Belgium,BosniaandHerzegovina,Bulgaria,Canada,Croatia,Cyprus,Czechia,Denmark,Estonia,Finland,France,Germany,Greece,Hungary,Iceland,Ireland,Italy,Japan,Latvia,Lithuania,Luxembourg,Malta,Netherlands,Norway,Poland,Portugal,Romania,Serbia,Slovakia,Slovenia,Spain,Sweden,UnitedKingdom,UnitedStates.Developingeconomiescovered(c20%ofoveralltotalin2021-22):China,HongKongChina,Indonesia,Malaysia,Philippines,Singapore(servicesonly),Thailand.

*From2016-2021,extrapolatedfiguresaccountforbetweenoneandsixpercentoftheoveralltotal.Withturnover-basedestimates(ratherthandirectlyreportedvalues)foreightEEAcountries,between7and12percentoftheoveralltotalisestimated.In2022,extrapolatedfiguresfornineeconomies,plusturnover-basedestimatesforsevenEEAcountiesandanestimatefore-commercesalesbyU.S.manufacturers,accountforonethirdoftheoveralltotal.Forthisreason,the2022figureshouldberegardedasindicative.Formoreinformationonthecompilation,comparability,androbustnessofthesefiguresseeBox1.

6

Businesse-commercesalesandtheroleofonlineplatforms

UNCTADTechnicalnotesonICTfordevelopment|No.1

3.

Developingeconomies

haveroomtogrowe-commerce

Thereislimitedavailabilityofstatistics

one-commercesalesbybusinesses,

especiallyamongdevelopingeconomies.

Ofthe43economieswithfiguresavailable,

36areclassifiedasdevelopedeconomies.

Theserepresent90percentofdevelopedeconomies’GDP,withtheRussian

FederationandRepublicofKoreabeingbyfarthelargestofthe18developedeconomiesforwhichdataaremissing.

Ofthe157economiesclassifiedas

developingeconomies9,seven–

China,HongKong-China,Indonesia,Malaysia,Singapore10,Thailand,andthePhilippines–areknowntohave

publishedstatisticsonthevalueof

e-commercesalesbybusinesses.Thesesevenaccountforjustoverhalfofthe

GDPofalldevelopingeconomies.

Figure3comparesbusinesse-commerce

salesacrossdevelopedanddeveloping

economies.Aswellaspresentingthe

observedtotals,italsogivesanindicationofthepotentialextentofunderrepresentationwhichmaybepresentinthesefigures

duetoun-coveredeconomies.Thisisderivedby“grossingup”theobserved

e-commercesalesfigureaccordingtotheshareoftheeconomiesitrepresentsin

thetotalGDPfordevelopedordevelopingeconomies,sothattheresultnotionally

alsorepresentsun-coveredeconomies.11

However,fortheoutcometobearobustoverallestimateforeacheconomy

group,e-commercesaleswouldneed

tohaveasimilarratiotoGDPinthe

missingeconomiesasinthosethatarecovered.Thisisastrongassumption

andisparticularlyunlikelytoholdfor

thedevelopingeconomies.Theseven

developingeconomiesrepresentedarerelativelyhighlydigitalised,allinAsia,andallclassifiedasmiddle-orhigh-incomedevelopingeconomies12soareunlikelytobegoodrepresentativesofall157

developingeconomies.Thegrossed-upfiguresshouldthereforenotbe

interpretedasarobustmeasureofthetotale-commercesalesbybusinessesastheyarepotentiallyasubstantialover-estimate.

Althoughtheabsolutemagnitude

ofthedisparityisuncertain,useful

comparisonscanstillbemade.Itisclearthate-commercesalesbybusinessesindevelopedeconomiesfarexceedthoseofbusinessesindevelopingeconomies.

Furthermore,whiledevelopingeconomiesgeneratearound40percentofglobalGDP,theirshareinbusinesse-commercesales

isconsiderablylower.Atmost,developingeconomiesmightaccountforaround25percentofbusinesse-commercesales-and

theylikelycomprisemuchless,potentiallyonlyaround15percent.Thissuggests

significantremaininggrowthpotentialfore-commerceindevelopingcountries.

Itisclearthat

e-commerce

salesby

businesses

indevelopedeconomiesfarexceedthoseofbusinessesindevelopingeconomies.

9See

/EN/Classifications.html

10forservicesonly,thoughthesecompriseover70percentofGDP

(/indicator/

NV.SRV.TOTL.ZS?locations=SG

)

11Forexample,in2021thesesevendevelopingeconomiesaccountedfor55percentofdevelopingeconomies’GDPandtheirbusinessesmadee-commercesalesofUS$4trillion.Thelatterfigureis“grossedup”bycomputing$4trn/55%yieldingafigureofalmostUS$8trillion.However,thisisnotarobustestimateofthevalueofe-commercesalesacrossalldevelopingeconomiesforthereasonsoutlined.

12

/EN/Classifications.html

7

Businesse-commercesalesandtheroleofonlineplatforms

UNCTADTechnicalnotesonICTfordevelopment|No.1

Figure3

E-commercesalesbybusinesses,developedanddevelopingeconomies,2016–2022

Businessesacross36developedeconomiesrepresentingaround90percentof

developedeconomyGDPand7developingeconomiesrepresentingaround50percentofdevelopingeconomyGDP

E-commercesales

Missingeconomies(indicative)

US$trillions

20

10

0

Developed

Developing

2016

Developed

Developing

2017

Developed

Developing

2018

Developed

Developing

2019

Developed

Developing

2020

Developed

Developing

2021

Developed

Developing

2022*

Source:UNCTADbasedonEurostatdigitaleconomyandsocietydatabase,EurostatStructuralBusinessStatisticsdatabase,nationalstatisticalagencies(seeAnnexA),andUNCTADGrossDomesticProductDatabase

(/datacentre/dataviewer/US.GDPTotal)

Note:Missingeconomies(indicative)estimatedbasedontheshareofmissingeconomiesinthetotalGDPofdevelopedordevelopingeconomies.Thisprovidesanindicationofthepotentialscaleofunder-representationintheavailablee-commercevaluefiguresandshouldnotberegardedasyieldingarobustestimateoftotale-commercesalesforalldevelopedordevelopingeconomies.

Developedeconomiescovered(c80%oftotalin2021-22):Australia,Austria,Belgium,BosniaandHerzegovina,Bulgaria,Canada,Croatia,Cyprus,Czechia,Denmark,Estonia,Finland,France,Germany,Greece,Hungary,Iceland,Ireland,Italy,Japan,Latvia,Lithuania,Luxembourg,Malta,Netherlands,Norway,Poland,Portugal,Romania,Serbia,Slovakia,Slovenia,Spain,Sweden,UnitedKingdom,UnitedStates.Developingeconomiescovered(c20%ofoveralltotalin2021-22):China,HongKongChina,Indonesia,Malaysia,Philippines,Singapore(servicesonly),Thailand.

*From2016-2021,extrapolatedfiguresaccountforbetweenoneandsixpercentoftheoveralltotal.Withturnover-basedestimates(ratherthandirectlyreportedvalues)foreightEEAcountries,between7and12percentoftheoveralltotalisestimated.In2022,extrapolatedfiguresfornineeconomies,plusturnover-basedestimatesforsevenEEAcountiesandanestimatefore-commercesalesbyU.S.manufacturers,accountforonethirdoftheoveralltotal.Forthisreason,the2022figureshouldberegardedasindicative.Formoreinformationonthecompilation,comparability,androbustnessofthesefiguresseeBox1.

8

Businesse-commercesalesandtheroleofonlineplatforms

UNCTADTechnicalnotesonICTfordevelopment|No.1

4.

Theeconomicscaleofbusinesse-commercesalesvaries

Togainaperspectiveontheireconomic

scale,itmaybeusefultocomparethevalueofbusinesse-commercesalestoGDP.Itiscriticalthatthisisnotmisinterpretedasa

contributiontoGDP.Thelatterisameasureofvalueaddedandisthereforenotdirectlycompatiblewithstatisticsthatsumall

businesse-commercesales,includingthosemadetootherbusinessesforuseasinputs.

Intheeconomiescovered,business

e-commercesalesrangefrombeing

equivalenttojustonepercenttoasmuchas70-80percentofGDP(Figure4).

Althoughtheaverageratiofordevelopingeconomies,at0.29,isonlyslightlylowerthandevelopedeconomies’0.31,bothgroupsdisplayconsiderablevariation

fromthehighesttothelowestratio.

SplittingFigure4bydevelopment

status,businesse-commercesales

aregenerallylowerrelativetoGDPin

developingeconomiesthanindevelopedeconomies(Figure5).Thissuggests

thatbusinesse-commercesales

arecontributingrelativelylesstotheeconomyindevelopingeconomies.

Alesswidelyavailable,butmoremeaningfulgaugeofeconomicscaleexpresses

e-commercesalesasaproportionof

businesses’totalturnoverfromsales.Thisalsovarieswidelyacrosscountries,fromaslowas0.8toover30percent(Figure6).

Thefewdevelopingeconomieswiththesestatisticsavailablefallatthelowerend

ofthescale.Itislikelythate-commerce

alsocontributesarelativelylowershare

ofbusiness’turnoverinotherdeveloping

economies,manyofwhichlagthose

shownintermsofdigitalization(IMF,OECD,UNCTAD,WTO,WorldBank,2023).

Itiscriticalthat

thisisnot

misinterpre