Spain’s e-commerce reached $30B-$32B in 2023, but projections for 2025 vary from $42B to $47B. ONTSI, however, reports a 3x larger market, revealing major data discrepancies.
ECDB estimates $30B, while Statista reports $32B for Spain’s e-commerce in 2023—pretty close. But by 2025, their estimates diverge: ECDB projects $42B, while Statista forecasts $47B. The COVID-19 impact is also inconsistent—Statista shows a sharp spike in 2021, while ECDB data remains flat. This raises the question: which methodology should we trust?
While ECDB and Statista report similar numbers, ONTSI claims Spain’s e-commerce reached $86B in 2023, almost 3x higher. All three sources define their data as B2C e-commerce and are dated to mid-2024. The key difference? Methodology.
1. ECDB triangulates data from transactions (credit cards, e-wallets), public company reports, traffic analytics, and web scraping.
2. Statista is a black box—its “Market Insights” estimates come with no transparency.
3. ONTSI runs a survey of 2,900 internet users, meaning their data is self-reported.
Between these, ECDB seems the most reliable, as it uses transaction data over estimates or surveys.
ECDB reports that Amazon dominates Spain’s e-commerce with $3.9B in revenue in 2023. Shein follows with $1.6B, making Spain its 4th-largest market globally. Local players El Corte Inglés ($1.4B), Mercadona ($703M), and Carrefour ($697M) are also growing. The key takeaway? Fast fashion and grocery e-commerce are booming. But here’s an important note—these numbers are based on online net sales, not total revenue.
Amazon’s numbers vary depending on the source. ECDB reports Amazon revenues over time (not net sales as in the chart before. Net sales exclude discounts and returns, so differences make sense). Statista’s figures are inflated as they include AWS and pre-2023 data from independent sources. Comparing them at face value is misleading. ECDB shows Amazon’s market share dropping from 20% to 14%, while Statista shows it fluctuating but steady. Completely different stories. What’s happening to Amazon in Spain? That’s worth investigating. The key lesson? Always question data, read the notes, and understand the methodology before drawing conclusions.
Which data source do you trust most for Spain’s e-commerce?
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