Information Society Statistics - Enterprises 2022

Almost half of enterprises had e-commerce purchases

In Ireland, 49% of enterprises had e-commerce purchases in 2022. An e-commerce purchase is a purchase conducted over computer networks via websites, apps or Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) of goods or services. Large enterprises had the highest proportion of enterprises (54%) with e-commerce purchases. This compares with 50% of small enterprises and 48% of medium enterprises.

In 2022, more than one in four (44%) enterprises in Ireland had e-commerce sales. Medium enterprises had the largest proportion of enterprises with e-commerce sales at 54%. This compares with 51% of large enterprises and 41% of small enterprises.

Services sector had the highest rate of e-commerce sales and purchases

In 2022, more than half of enterprises (51%) in the Services sector made purchases electronically, by internet or EDI. Almost half (47%) conducted sales electronically, with 42% reporting sales via the internet and 11% conducting sales by EDI.

In the Construction sector, 42% of enterprises made purchases and 19% conducted sales electronically, by internet or EDI. Less than a fifth (16%) of Construction enterprises conducted sales via the internet and 4% made sales by EDI.

The Manufacturing sector reported that 44% of enterprises made purchases electronically, by internet, or EDI, with a similar proportion (45%) conducting electronic sales. In this sector, sales via both internet and EDI were conducted by 28% of enterprises.

Ireland was the most common location of customers for e-commerce sales

More than one-third (35%) of enterprises received orders via websites or apps from customers located in Ireland in 2022. More than one in ten enterprises (11%) received orders online from countries in the European Union (EU) (excluding Ireland), while 12% of enterprises received orders from customers located in the rest of the world, which includes the United Kingdom.

Four in ten (40%) enterprises from the Services sector received online orders from customers in Ireland while 11% received orders from customers in EU member states and 14% from the rest of the world. In the Manufacturing sector, 26% received online orders from Ireland, 11% received orders from the rest of the EU, and 12% received orders from the rest of the world. In the Construction sector, 15% of firms received orders from websites or apps from Ireland in 2022, while 6% received orders from the rest of EU, and 5% from the rest of the world.