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

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

DUBAI: The booming regional online shopping market is expected to grow by more than a third to reach a gross value of $30 billion this year, according to a report from Wamda and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 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