E-commerce During Covid: Stylized Facts from 47 Economies
IMF Working Papers, January 28, 2022
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- E-commerce During Covid: Stylized Facts from 47 Economies
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Bibliographic details
- Authors: Alberto Cavallo, Prachi Mishra, Antonio Spilimbergo
- Published: January 28, 2022
- Series: IMF Working Papers
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9781616359218.001
Data and scope
- Study of e-commerce across 47 economies and 26 industries.
- Uses aggregated and anonymized transaction-level data from Mastercard, scaled to represent total consumer spending.
- Publication: IMF Working Papers, Working Paper No. 2022/019, Pages: 19, Volume: 2022, Issue: 019, DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9781616359218.001, ISBN: 9781616359218, ISSN: 1018-5941.
- Authors: Alberto Cavallo, Prachi Mishra, Antonio Spilimbergo.
- Date: January 28, 2022.
Key findings
- The share of online transactions in total consumption increased more in economies with higher pre-pandemic e-commerce shares, exacerbating the digital divide across economies.
- At the aggregate level, the spikes in online spending shares observed during the pandemic are dissipating according to the latest data available in the study.
- There is notable variation across industries in the persistence of digital shifts:
- The share of online spending in professional services and recreation has fallen below its pre-pandemic trend.
- There is a longer-lasting shift to digital in retail and restaurants.
Thematic observations
- Digitalization during COVID-19 was uneven across countries: pre-pandemic penetration of e-commerce amplified pandemic-era increases.
- Industry-specific dynamics matter: some sectors reverted toward pre-pandemic trends while others sustained higher online shares.
Source: "E-commerce During Covid: Stylized Facts from 47 Economies", Alberto Cavallo, Prachi Mishra, and Antonio Spilimbergo, IMF Working Papers 2022, 019 (2022).
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