In 2023, digital trade represented 25.9% of total trade across the OECD, of which 12.7 percentage points corresponded to digitally ordered transactions. This suggests a broadly even split between digitally ordered trade, such as goods and services purchased online, and digitally delivered trade, such as cloud computing and professional services delivered via digital networks.
Digital trade shares varied widely across countries, ranging from 55.2% in 2023 in the United Kingdom to 10.1% in Norway. Sweden (43.6%) and Hungary (34.5%) also ranked among the highest, while Italy (14.1%) and Greece (14.5%) were at the lower end. These new experimental estimates provide the first internationally comparable measures of total digital trade across a broad range of OECD countries.
Although on average digitally ordered and digitally delivered trade accounted for very similar shares of total digital trade, those shares varied markedly across countries. In Canada, the United Kingdom and France, digitally delivered trade plays a prominent role, representing close to or more than 70% of total digital trade. In other countries, including Slovakia and Hungary, digitally ordered transactions dominate digital trade.
Digital trade grew strongly across the OECD from 2022 to 2023, rising slightly above pre-pandemic levels. This followed a temporary moderation after the sharp increase observed during the COVID‑19 pandemic. Both digitally ordered and digitally delivered trade contributed to this recovery. Digitally delivered trade saw a sharp surge during the pandemic, followed by a relative decline as COVID-19 restrictions eased, before rebounding in 2023. In turn, digitally ordered trade saw a more gradual and consistent growth over time.
Over the past ten years, both total e-commerce sales and digital trade have grown steadily, by 26.6% and 35.3%, respectively, highlighting their rising importance in both domestic and global consumption of goods and services. Increases in digital trade reflect sustained growth in both digitally delivered and digitally ordered trade, which increased by around 52.1% and 21.3%, respectively, over the same period.