Germany · German enterprises with e-commerce sales
German Enterprises Selling Online: Share With E-Commerce Sales
As of 2025 Eurostat Next update: Annually, typically toward the end of the survey year
The share of German enterprises with ten or more persons employed that sell goods or services online, the seller-side counterpart to the online-shoppers survey.
How many companies in Germany sell online? 23.1% of German enterprises with ten or more persons employed made e-commerce sales according to the 2025 Eurostat survey, which covers sales in the previous calendar year. Germany sits close to the EU average.
Key takeaways
- 23.1% of German enterprises with ten or more persons employed made e-commerce sales according to the 2025 survey, which covers sales in the previous calendar year.
- This is the seller side of German e-commerce: the online-shoppers page counts buyers, this page counts the enterprises competing for them.
- Germany has lost its early lead. In 2010 its share was well above the EU average, but since the 2020 survey it has sat slightly below it as the rest of the EU caught up.
- The series peaked at 28.5% in 2016 and bottomed at 20.0% in 2020, and year-to-year changes are small, so read the direction over several surveys.
- Every additional percentage point means more German businesses bidding in the same auctions and shipping into the same households, so the line doubles as a competitive-density gauge.
- The measure includes B2B and EDI-type sales alongside webshops, so it reads how digitized German selling is overall, not just consumer retail.
The data
| Period | German enterprises with e-commerce sales |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 23.1% |
| 2024 | 23.0% |
| 2023 | 22.2% |
| 2022 | 22.4% |
| 2021 | 21.8% |
| 2020 | 20.0% |
| 2019 | 20.1% |
| 2018 | 21.6% |
| 2017 | 25.7% |
| 2016 | 28.5% |
| 2015 | 27.2% |
| 2014 | 25.5% |
| 2013 | 25.8% |
| 2012 | 24.5% |
| 2011 | 21.9% |
| 2010 | 23.9% |
What this means for e-commerce and DTC brands
For a brand selling into Germany, this line approximates how crowded the digital shelf is getting. Buyers are counted on the online-shoppers page, and this is the other half of the market equation: the number of established German businesses those buyers can order from. A rising share means more competitors in Google Shopping and Meta auctions, more retail media bidders, and more lookalike products a click away, which pushes acquisition costs up even when demand is flat. That is worth separating in your own numbers, because rising CPCs from competitive density look identical to falling channel performance unless you can hold per-channel results against a market line like this one. It also frames white space: categories where German enterprises still sell mostly offline are the ones where a digital-first entrant meets the least entrenched competition.
What this statistic does not tell you
The survey covers enterprises with ten or more persons employed, so the long tail of micro-businesses, including most small webshops and DTC startups, is not counted. It includes B2B commerce and EDI-type sales, so it is not a count of consumer-facing shops. An enterprise counts once whether e-commerce is a sliver of its revenue or all of it, so the figure says nothing about online sales volume. The e-commerce questions refer to the calendar year before the survey year, and as a survey the series carries sampling uncertainty.
Frequently asked questions
How many companies in Germany sell online?
23.1% of German enterprises with ten or more persons employed made e-commerce sales according to the 2025 Eurostat survey, compared with 23.0% a year earlier. E-commerce here means orders received via a website, an app or EDI-type messages.
How does Germany compare with the EU?
Germany used to lead and now sits close to the average. In 2010, 23.9 percent of German enterprises sold online against 14.6 percent across the EU. Since the 2020 survey Germany has been slightly below the EU average, and in 2025 it ranked 17th of the 27 member states with 23.1 percent against 23.6 percent. Lithuania, Denmark, Sweden and Ireland lead.
Are more German companies selling online than before?
The share peaked at 28.5% in 2016, fell to 20.0% in 2020 and stood at 23.1% in 2025. Changes between surveys are usually small, so the direction over several years is the reliable signal.
Which year do the figures refer to?
The year before the survey. The EU survey on ICT usage in enterprises asks about e-commerce sales in the previous calendar year, so the value shown for 2025 describes sales made during the year before.
Does this count every German webshop?
No. The survey covers enterprises with ten or more persons employed outside agriculture, mining and the financial sector. Micro-businesses below that threshold, which include many small shops and DTC brands, fall outside the figure. It also counts B2B and EDI-type sales, so it measures how digitized German selling is overall rather than the number of consumer webshops.
Unlock Better Data Today
Join 100+ leading e-commerce brands and lead-gen companies using adtribute to track, attribute, and optimize their marketing for profitable growth.