European Union · Europeans buying online, last 12 months
Online Shoppers in the EU: Share of People Buying Online
As of 2025 Eurostat Next update: Annually, typically in spring for the previous survey year
The share of people across the EU27 who bought goods or services online in the past year, the cross-market baseline from the official EU survey on internet usage.
How many people shop online in the EU? 73.6% of people aged 16 to 74 across the EU bought goods or services online in the twelve months before the 2025 survey, up from 64.7% in 2020, according to Eurostat.
Key takeaways
- 73.6% of people aged 16 to 74 in the EU bought online in the twelve months before the 2025 survey, up from 64.7% in 2020.
- Roughly three in four people across the EU buy online in a given year, the baseline every national market is read against.
- The average has kept drifting up as lower-adoption member states catch up, so the adoption growth story in Europe increasingly sits outside the saturated northern markets.
- An EU average is a midpoint, not a market: high-adoption countries sit well above it and several southern and eastern markets sit well below it, so entry decisions need the national lines.
- Every member state runs the identical survey, so national figures can be compared against this baseline without definition gaps.
The data
| Period | Europeans buying online, last 12 months |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 73.6% |
| 2024 | 71.8% |
| 2023 | 69.6% |
| 2022 | 68.0% |
| 2021 | 67.1% |
| 2020 | 64.7% |
What this means for e-commerce and DTC brands
If you sell in more than one European market, or plan to, this is the par line. A national online-shopper share only means something relative to it: markets above the EU average offer a deep pool of practiced online buyers and usually more entrenched competition, while markets below it offer thinner pools where category education still costs money. That makes this figure a first filter for expansion sequencing and for splitting budget across countries. It also disciplines demand planning, because a brand forecasting European growth well ahead of adoption growth is implicitly betting on taking share, and it helps to know that is the bet you are making.
What this statistic does not tell you
An EU27 average hides wide national divergence, and because it is population-weighted the big member states dominate it, so it can mask movement in smaller markets entirely. The survey counts anyone who bought at least once in twelve months and says nothing about spend or frequency. It covers individuals aged 16 to 74, which trims the oldest cohorts. As a survey it carries sampling uncertainty, and figures before the 2020 redesign are not comparable.
Frequently asked questions
How many people shop online in the EU?
73.6% of people aged 16 to 74 bought something online in the twelve months before the 2025 Eurostat survey, up from 64.7% in 2020. That makes online shoppers a clear majority of adults in every large EU market.
What percentage of internet users shop online?
A higher share than of all people. This page divides online shoppers by all individuals aged 16 to 74, while some Eurostat releases divide by internet users only, which gives a figure several points higher for the same year. Check the denominator before comparing numbers from different sources.
Is online shopping in the EU still growing?
Yes, but the gains are now a point or two per year. The share rose from 64.7% in 2020 to 73.6% in 2025, with most of the remaining growth coming from member states that started below the average.
Which EU countries have the most online shoppers?
Eurostat publishes the same indicator for every member state. The Nordic countries, the Netherlands and Ireland sit far above the EU average, while several southern and eastern member states sit well below it, so the EU figure is a midpoint rather than a market.
Which countries does the EU figure cover?
The 27 member states in the post-2020 composition, so the United Kingdom is excluded. The aggregate is population-weighted, which means Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Poland drive most of its movement.
Why does the series start in 2020?
Eurostat redesigned the survey in 2020 and publishes the current methodology as a separate dataset. Earlier figures exist but are not directly comparable.
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