Saifaddin Galal
Research Expert North Africa
E-commerce in Egypt- statistics & facts
The Egyptian e-commerce market size has grown significantly in the last few years and is expected to grow even more. As of 2023, the industry was forecast to generate 1.4 billion U.S. dollars in revenue. Four years prior, the e-commerce revenue was estimated at 0.98 billion U.S. dollars, while the industry's revenue will reach 2.62 billion U.S. dollars by 2029. Furthermore, people engaging in digital purchases in the country have also risen. For instance, there were around 20 million users in 2017, and is expected to reach 62.4 million in 2023. The penetration rate of the e-commerce market was almost 20.45 percent of the population as of the same year, up from close to 18 percent in 2019. The main factors leading to this slight growth are the increased adoption of mobile phones and the internet in recent years.
Amazon is the most visited marketplace
As of 2020, 84 online marketplaces operated in Egypt. The most visited were Souq (Amazon), OLX, and Jumia. Souq was founded in 2005 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Amazon acquired it in 2017. The rebranding took time, with the last being the launch of amazon.eg in September 2021. In May 2024, the digital marketplace received some 19.1 million visits.Online shoppers prefer buying electronics and fashion products
The leading e-commerce segments in Egypt are electronics and fashion products. As of 2023, the number of users in these categories reached 11.09 million and 10.8 million, respectively. Furthermore, fashion products were the online category generating the largest revenue, with around one billion U.S. dollars as of the same year. Based on Statista's Consumer Insights survey, Egyptian respondents tend to search for information on consumer electronics and clothing online rather than offline.A cash-based system and introduction of financial solutions
The Egyptian e-commerce market needs to overcome several obstacles. Among them, the country being in an early stage of digital financial solutions. For example, digital consumers still rely on cash as the main payment method for online purchases. In 2022, close to 60 percent of the buyers paid with cash on delivery, while payments using cards were significantly lower at 22 percent. The country had a low number of credit cards in circulation in comparison to the size of the population. However, Egyptian e-commerce and retail tech startups managed to secure 6.8 million U.S. dollars in funding in 2023, ranking fourth in Africa. Previously e-commerce startups in the country used to receive the most funding in Africa.
