Online Purchases – EU Regions Buying Online – Where is Greece?

Roughly six out of ten Europeans (58.1%) aged 16–74 in the European Union said they made online purchases—buying or ordering goods and services over the Internet—in the three months preceding a 2023 Eurostat survey.

No region in Greece outstripped the EU average, with Attica recording the highest percentage of online shoppers aged 16–74 at 54.1%.

Northern Greece at 48.1% came second, followed by Crete and the Aegean Islands at 45.7%. Central Greece, encompassing Thessaly, the Ionian Islands, and the Peloponnese, had the lowest rate at 40.1%.

Online Shopping Trends Across Europe

Regions in the Czech Republic, Denmark, Ireland, France (excluding overseas territories), the Netherlands, Slovakia, Finland, Sweden, Estonia, Luxembourg, and Malta all exceeded the EU average. By contrast, all regions of Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Croatia, Cyprus, and Latvia fell below this threshold.

High and Low Performers in the EU online purchases

In 2023, 21 EU regions reported that at least 80% of individuals aged 16–74 made online purchases for private use. These included 11 regions in the Netherlands, four in Sweden, three in Denmark, two in Ireland, and one in the Czech Republic. The Dutch regions of Utrecht (87.8%), Noord-Holland (86.4%), and Overijssel (85.9%) led in online shopping activity.

Conversely, 20 EU regions saw fewer than 35% of their populations engage in e-commerce. These included six regions in Romania, five in Italy, three in Bulgaria, three French overseas territories, and one region in Poland. The lowest participation rates were in Bulgaria’s Yugoiztochen (19.8%) and the French overseas region of Guadeloupe (18.7%).