Last year, Belgian consumers spent 17.4 billion euros on online purchases. This was a billion euros more than in 2023, representing an increase of 6.7 percent. In 2024, Belgians did a quarter of all their spending online for the first time.
This is according to the latest Market Monitor from sector federation Becom. In 2023, Belgians spent 16.3 billion euros. This too was a strong increase compared to a year earlier, up nearly 11 percent. Although online spending grew slightly slower last year, ecommerce in Belgium is still growing.
Number of transactions increased 5%
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Last year, the number of online transactions increased nearly 5 percent, to 179 million. Compared to a year earlier, some 8 million additional transactions were added. On average, about 97 euros was spent per order.
‘Especially in the second half of the year there was a huge increase in the amount of purchases’
“Especially in the second half of the year we see a huge increase in the number of online purchases. The start of the school year, Black Friday and the end-of-year period full of presents certainly contribute to this”, says Greet Dekocker, managing director of Becom.
25% of all spending took place online
The number of online shoppers is also increasing. Last year, 96 percent of Belgians aged 15 and older bought something online. It is also notable that for the first time, 25 percent of total consumer spending in Belgium was spent online.
Popular product categories
When looking at how often Belgians bought certain product categories, clothing stands out above the others. That’s where the research counted 32.3 million transactions. In second place are games and gambling (24.4 million transactions) and media and entertainment services such as streaming (18.1 million transactions). Furthermore, the survey also shows that insurance, toys and public transportation tickets are increasingly being purchased online.
4 billion euros was spent on online travel packages
Travel packages were spent the most (4 billion euros in total), followed by airline tickets (2.3 billion euros). But a lot was also spent on clothing: a whopping 1.7 billion euros.
‘Belgians increasingly familiar with online shopping’
“Belgians feel increasingly comfortable shopping online. Consequently, they are spending more and more when they do so. This increase is not only due to inflation, which reached 4.3 percent last year. The figures confirm that ecommerce is becoming increasingly entrenched in the buying habits of Belgian consumers. Online shopping continues to grow in our country, both locally and on marketplaces that may include Chinese platforms.”
