OECD digital trade grew 35% in 10 years, reaching 26% in 2024

Digital commerce within the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries has expanded significantly, growing by 35.3% over the past ten years to account for nearly 26% of total trade in 2024. This surge is largely attributed to the dramatic increase in services delivered electronically, which experienced a substantial boost during the COVID-19 pandemic.

While services received via electronic means saw a sharp rise in 2020 due to pandemic lockdowns, they experienced a subsequent dip before beginning to rebound. The broader category of electronically ordered trade, encompassing both physical and digital goods and services, showed a more linear progression over the decade, reaching 12.7% of total trade in 2024. Digital products and services delivered electronically constituted 13.2% of trade in 2024.

The penetration of digital trade varies considerably across OECD member states. In 2023, the United Kingdom led with digital trade making up 55.2% of its total trade, followed by Sweden at 43.6% and Hungary at 34.5%. In contrast, countries like Norway (10.1%), Italy (14.1%), and Greece (14.5%) reported much lower figures. Spain's digital trade stood at 22.2%, split almost evenly between digitally ordered and digitally received trade.