Measuring the Value of E-Commerce

Measuring the monetary value of e-commerce transactions has has become increasingly important, not least as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic during which a shift to making online purchases supported economic resilience. Nevertheless, there is very limited information available and better statistics on the value of e-commerce are needed to understand its economic role and contributions to GDP, employment and development, as well as for evidence-based policymaking. Because of this, UNCTAD member States have indicated that developing guidance and support on measuring e-commerce is a key priority. This report describes the current situation regarding measures of the value of e-commerce, including cross-border e commerce, for various economies which have statistics available. The focus is on e-commerce sales by businesses, which is the main component of e-commerce as a whole, giving a view of measurement practices. It thereby provides a foundation for the next step in efforts to measure e-commerce, serving as the basis for a task group of delegates from interested countries and international organizations that will work to develop statistical guidelines for measuring the value of e-commerce sales and purchases.