Switzerland paradise of the purchase of goods and services online

In 2019, 97 percent of Swiss used the Internet for shopping, a fact that placed them ahead of the Netherlands and Denmark for top postal service as well

Switzerland replaced the Netherlands at the top of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Business-to-Consumer E-commerce Index 2020, which ranks 152 countries based on their readiness to engage in online commerce.
Europe remains by far the most prepared region in the field, according to UNCTAD’s Business-to-Consumer (B2C) E-Commerce Index 2020, but the wide gaps with the lowest preparedness countries must be addressed by managing those nations’ weaknesses to spread the benefits of digital transformation to more people.
For the first time, Switzerland leads the UNCTAD B2C E-commerce Index, just ahead of the Netherlands. In 2019, 97 percent of the Swiss population used the Internet.

The UNCTAD B2C E-Commerce Index 2020
Tabella UNCTAD delle performance dell’E-Commerce nel 2020

The only non-European economies in the top 10 are Singapore, in fourth place, and Hong Kong (China), in 10th place.
The index scores 152 nations based on their readiness for online shopping, which is estimated to be worth $4.4 trillion globally in 2018, up 7 percent from the previous year.
Countries are rated on access to secure Internet servers, reliability of postal services and infrastructure, and the portion of their population that uses the Web and has an account with a credit institution or mobile payment service provider.

Developing countries: Asia leads the pack

The 10 developing countries with the highest scores are all in Asia as well as classified as high-income or upper-middle-income economies.
At the other end of the analysis spectrum, LDCs occupy 18 of the bottom 20 positions.
The two largest B2C e-commerce markets in the world, China and the United States, are ranked 55th and 12th in the index, respectively. Although both states lead in several absolute categories, they lag in relative comparisons.
For example, U.S. Internet penetration is lower than that of all economies in the top 10, while China ranks 87th in the world according to this indicator. When it comes to online shopping penetration, the U.S. ranks 12th, while China occupies 33rd.

Switzerland-Liechtenstein pact on scientific innovation
Bern, Zurich and Aargau bet on innovation… fiscal

“The e-commerce gap remains huge,” said Shamika N. Sirimanne, director of the UNCTAD division that prepares the annual index. “Even among G20 countries, the extent to which people shop online varies from 3 percent in India to 87 percent in the United Kingdom.”
In addition, in Canada, the U.S. and 10 European nations, more than 70 percent of the adult population shops online. But that percentage is well below 10 percent in most low- and middle-income states.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has made it more urgent to ensure that the Nations lagging furthest behind are able to close the gap and strengthen their e-commerce readiness,” Ms. Sirimanne continued.
“The index,” she said, “underscores the need for governments to do more to ensure that more people can take advantage of e-commerce opportunities.”
“Otherwise, their businesses and the citizens of those states will miss out on the opportunities offered by the digital economy, and they will be less prepared to meet the various global challenges,” she added.

Oman overtakes Turkey, Australia down slightly

The 2020 edition of the index includes some notable changes from the previous year. In the composition of the top 10 positions, Hong Kong (China) replaced Australia. Among the top 10 developing economies, Oman took over from Turkey.

Switzerland will have an ad hoc ambassador for… science
Federal Council says yes to Swiss ‘Green Fintech’ network

The four largest increases in index scores were in developing nations-Algeria, Brazil, Ghana and Lao People’s Democratic Republic-whose scores increased by at least five points, largely due to significant improvements in postal service reliability.
Costa Rica became the best in the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region, replacing Chile.
Mauritius maintained its highest score in Sub-Saharan Africa, while Belarus again achieved the highest score among transition economies.

Special 2020 focus on Latin America and the Caribbean

The 2020 index takes a closer look at the so-called “LAC” region, which represents 9 percent of the world’s population that is over 15 years old and as many as 11 percent of the world’s Internet users. However, the region’s share of online shoppers was only 6 percent of the global total in 2019.
The UNCTAD report notes that five states account for 92 percent of online shoppers in the “LAC” region, much higher than their share (72 percent) of the region’s population. Postal unreliability is the biggest infrastructural weakness of e-commerce in Latin America and, in particular, the Caribbean.

Switzerland’s export industry relies on innovation
More flexibility in promoting Swiss innovation

As we have already seen globally, COVID-19 has given great impetus to online shopping in the “LAC” region; for example, 7.3 million Brazilians shopped online for the first time in their lives precisely during the pandemic.
Not only that: in Argentina, the number of first-time online shoppers during the pandemic was equivalent to 30 percent of the entire 2019 online shopping base.