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2020 was a challenging year for the retail industry. At the same time, however, the pandemic pushed e-commerce sales to reach unprecedented heights in 2020. Worldwide e-commerce sales have reached $4.280 trillion, a 27.6% increase from the previous year.
Along with the accelerated growth in e-commerce, the e-commerce logistics market also experienced a phenomenal rise. According to Transport Intelligence’s Global e-commerce Logistics 2021 Report, the global e-commerce logistics market grew to €368 billion, a 27.3% jump from the previous year.
So which regions accounted for the biggest growth throughout 2020? Let’s take a look!
Asia-Pacific had the Slowest E-Commerce Growth but had the Biggest Market Size
While the growth in Asia-Pacific ranked last, the region was the largest e-commerce logistics market in 2020, amounting to 41.55% of the world’s e-commerce logistics market. Last year, the region reached new heights with $2.448 trillion in retail e-commerce sales. The APAC market was mostly dominated by China, the world’s largest e-commerce market with e-commerce giants such as Alibaba and JD.com.
In 2020, Sub-Saharan Africa’s e-commerce logistics market saw the most growth compared to the other regions. Although South Africa’s share of digital shoppers only accounted for 57.7% of internet users; lower than the global average of 77%, its e-commerce market seems to be showing promising growth. The most popular e-commerce marketplace in the region, Jumia, reported a 50% increase in transactions in the first half of 2020.
| No | Region | Market Growth YoY (2020) |
| 1 | Sub-Saharan Africa | 36.3% |
| 2 | South America | 34.8% |
| 3 | North America | 33.9% |
| 4 | Russia, Caucasus and Central Asia | 32.9% |
| 5 | Middle East and North Africa | 30.4% |
| 6 | Europe | 26.5% |
| 7 | Asia Pacific | 22.0% |
| Worldwide Average | 27.3% |
Singapore Topped the Country Growth Rank
Over the pandemic, the popularity of e-commerce in Singapore has soared. With the closure of brick-and-mortar stores during the lockdowns, retailers had no choice but to shift their strategy to e-commerce. In a joint report by Google, Temasek, and Bain Southeast Asia, Singapore’s e-commerce sales skyrocketed by 87% in 2020. The impressive growth in e-commerce presents a great opportunity for the e-commerce logistics market to continue growing further with a stronger compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.2%
| No | Country | Market Growth YoY (2020) |
| 1 | Singapore | 63.4% |
| 2 | Egypt | 63.1% |
| 3 | Thailand | 52.8% |
| 4 | Indonesia | 51.4% |
| 5 | Malaysia | 49.6% |
Looking Ahead
The e-commerce logistics market growth is expected to slow down to 8.6% over the next five years. However, we foresee that digital shopping behavior will likely stay even with the easing of restrictions.
Nevertheless, we look forward to seeing how e-commerce logistics perform this year.
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About Transport Intelligence
Ti Insight is a leading logistics and supply chain market research company providing strategic market intelligence to the logistics and parcels industry through its:
- Supply Chain and Logistics Market Research Reports
- Global Supply Chain Intelligence (GSCi) online knowledge platform
- Consulting and Market Research projects
- Training, Conferences and Webinars
Ti aims to provide its subscribers with a vision of how the logistics market will develop over the next year, 5 years and 10 years with quantitative forecasts and qualitative insights for each timeframe.
Ti has acted as advisors to the World Economic Forum, World Bank, UN and European Commission as well as providing expert analysis to the world’s leading manufacturers, retailers, banks, consultancies, shipping lines and logistics providers.
