In the new ranking of the largest cross-border economies in Europe, Germany ranks in the lower middle field, together with the other large e-commerce economies France and Great Britain. The list also offers a few surprises.
81 percent of online sales in Luxembourg are generated abroad. Consumers primarily order on large German and French platforms.
The largest online economies in Europe (i.e. the UK, Germany, France, Spain and Italy), on the other hand, naturally tend to be found in the lower ranks in the cross-border ranking; however, the market researchers have identified changed dynamics here. The cross-border market share in Italy has risen from 30 to 35.4 percent within a year. The market share of cross-border trade has also increased in Germany: 26 percent of German foreign sales are now generated abroad.
The UK and the Netherlands bring up the rear
On the other hand, international online trade in Great Britain has slumped: Due to Brexit, cross-border sales in the UK shrank by 12 percent to 29 billion euros, causing the nation to fall 10 places in the ranking to the penultimate place.
However, the biggest cross-border grouches in Europe are still the Netherlands. There, just under 16 percent of online sales are generated abroad; instead, the Dutch prefer to buy on strong domestic platforms such as Bolc.om, Coolblue or Wehkamp.
Platforms determine international trade
Overall, the entire cross-border online trade in the EU (excluding the travel segment) generated sales of 171 billion euros in 2021, which corresponds to an increase of 17 percent compared to the previous year. 44 percent of cross-border sales are processed via online marketplaces.
Apart from international players such as Amazon and eBay, the most important platforms come from Germany: Zalando, the platforms of the Schwarz Group and About You are among the most important cross-border platforms in Europe. A total of 112 cross-border shops in the top 500 come from Germany.
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