E-commerce sales reached $25.6-trillion globally in 2018, up 8% from 2017, according to the most recent available estimates released on April 28 by the United Nations' trade and development body, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad), at the start of its eWeek event.

The 2017 value of e-commerce was estimated at $23.8-trillion.

The online event looks to explore digital solutions and policies to help the world recover from the coronavirus, or Covid-19, pandemic, and will run until May 1.

The online event will feature dialogues among ministers, heads of international organisations, business executives and civil society representatives.

According to the Unctad analysis, the estimated 2018 e-commerce sales value, which includes business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) sales, was equivalent to about 30% of global domestic product (GDP) that year.

However, the coronavirus crisis has accelerated the uptake of digital solutions, tools and services, but the overall impact on the value of e-commerce this year is still difficult to predict, Unctad technology and logistics director Shamika Sirimanne says.

Overall, the value of global B2B e-commerce in 2018 was $21-trillion, representing 83% of all e-commerce, and comprises both sales on online market platforms and electronic data interchange transactions.

B2C e-commerce was valued at $4.4-trillion, up by 16% from 2017; while cross-border B2C e-commerce sales amounted to $404-billion in 2018, representing an increase of 7% over 2017.

The US continued to dominate the overall e-commerce market, and remained among the top three countries by B2C e-commerce sales, alongside China and the UK.

The leading B2C e-commerce companies are based mostly in China and the US, according to Unctad.

The world’s top ten B2C companies in 2018 generated almost $2-trillion in gross merchandise value (GMV), according to the report.

Alibaba (China) was far ahead with a GMV of $866 -illion in 2018, followed by Amazon (US) with $277-billion. However, in terms of revenue, JD.com (China) and Amazon were ahead of Alibaba.

Developing and transition economies accounted for about half of the top 20 economies by B2C e-commerce sales, and in relation to GDP, B2C e-commerce in these economies was the largest in Hong Kong (China), China and the UK, and the smallest in India, Brazil and Russia.

Among the top 20 economies, the extent to which Internet users engage in online purchases varies considerably, the report noted. For example, in 2018, 87% of Internet users in the UK shopped online, compared with only 14% in Thailand and 11% in India.

Additionally, Unctad estimates that more than 1.4-billion people shopped online.

Unctad also estimates that more than 1.4-billion people, or one quarter of the world’s population aged 15 and older, made purchases online in 2018 – 9% higher than in 2017.

China had the largest number of online shoppers at 610-million, according to the report.

While the bulk of online shoppers mainly bought from domestic suppliers, some 330-million online shoppers made cross-border purchases in 2018 — a little more than one in five of all online shoppers.

The interest in buying from foreign suppliers continued to expand, as the share of cross-border online shoppers to all online shoppers rose from 17% in 2016 to 23% in 2018.

“Still the number of online shoppers, while huge, is an indication of the scale of the digital divide and the future market potential of e-commerce, both of which need to be addressed,” Sirimanne added.

Today, only half of the world’s 7.7-billion people are connected to the internet and its benefits, which Unctad said limits the ability of many developing countries to use digital solutions to cope with the current health and economic crisis.