UK Declared Worlds eCommerce Leader

UK & Ireland Great Britain Map PhonesA report has declared the UK the worlds eCommerce leader, with robust mobile and broadband networks, widespread adoption of smartphones and the UKs love of shopping combining to give the country the highest level of online consumer expenditure in the world.

UK eCommerce spend averages £2,000 per consumer according to the report by Enders Analysis, two-thirds more than the US and more than twice that seen in other high tech economies like Germany, Japan and South Korea.

The report also holds the UK up as a global digital leader for a number of other reasons, including fixed-line broadband speeds averaging at 23Mbps, high-speed broadband making up a third of all connections, and 45m Brits predicted to be using mobile broadband by 2020.

According to the report, eCommerce sales to consumers and businesses exceed £556bn, accounting for 20 per cent of non-financial business turnover, and with digital revenues of £7.5bn, the UKs advertising market is the largest in Europe.

“I am delighted to see that the UK is making such good progress in embracing the technologies that will underpin this countrys future economic prosperity,” said Ed Vaizey, Minister for Culture and the Digital Economy. “This is the result of hard work and enterprise by a diverse range of British companies.

“The UK is firmly open for digital business; our digital economy is already one of the strongest markets in the world, valued at more than £100bn. We have already put coding into the school curriculum and our rollout of superfast broadband has now passed more that 1.5m homes and businesses and is reaching 40,000 more each week.”