Cyprus recorded slightly higher-than-average levels of online shopping in 2024, according to Eurostat data published on Friday, with more than six in ten people aged 16–74 ordering goods or services over the internet in the three months before the survey.

Across the EU, 60.2 per cent of people made an online purchase during that period.

Usage was highest in the Netherlands, where all 12 regions exceeded the EU average, and particularly in Utrecht and Flevoland, which posted the bloc’s top shares at 91.5 and 89.5 per cent respectively.

Moreover, the proportion of people ordering goods or services online was above the EU average in every region of the Czechia, Denmark, Ireland, France, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Finland and Sweden. This was also the case in Estonia, Cyprus, Luxembourg and Malta.

By contrast, e-commerce penetration remained below average in all regions of Bulgaria, Italy, Lithuania, Portugal, Romania and Slovenia, as well as in Croatia and Latvia.

According to Eurostat, 23 EU regions at the nomenclature of territorial units for statistics (NUTS 2)  level recorded shares above 80 per cent.

Roughly half were in the Netherlands, while the rest were in Denmark, Ireland, Sweden and the Czechia’s capital region of Prague.

Utrecht led the EU with 91.5 per cent, followed by Flevoland (89.5 per cent) and Ireland’s Northern and Western region (88.3 per cent).

At the other end, 21 regions reported fewer than 40 per cent of people buying online, mostly in eastern and southern member states.

Romania had six such regions, Bulgaria five, and southern Italy six, alongside three French outermost regions and one Portuguese autonomous region.

Bulgaria’s south-eastern region of Yugoiztochen had the lowest share at 21.7 per cent, followed by Guadeloupe (24.2 per cent) and Bulgaria’s north-western region of Severozapaden (24.9 per cent).