Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt lead boom in Arab world online shopping

Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt lead boom in Arab world online shopping

The e-commerce market in the region was worth $22 billion by the end of 2020, boosted by online shoppers from Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the UAE.The three countries form 80 percent of the region's overall e-commerce market, according to the study, which was launched at a virtual event on Wednesday.In Saudi Arabia, the market volume is expected to reach $8.2 billion by 2024, and although the UAE currently has the largest market size, the Kingdom "is growing at a faster rate.“ "The UAE's digital economy prior to COVID-19 contributed 4.3 percent to the country's gross domestic product (GDP). In addition, the e-commerce industry in the country is set to reach $62.8 billion by 2023, according to the Dubai Future Foundation,“ the report said.Although it was natural for these three countries - which are the Middle East's major population centers - to have a bigger share of the region's e-commerce pie, the growth was also attributed to massive infrastructure improvements in recent years, increased investments, as well as growing state support to regulate online shopping. Around $665 million was invested in e-commerce in 2016 to 2019, which the report noted is almost 20 percent of the total amount of investments in