The country most addicted to online shopping is China, with consumers spending more time browsing and purchasing online than any other country, while UK consumers allocate the highest percentage of their income to online purchases and the US sets a global benchmark with the largest number of online shoppers.
A recent study by Public Desire ranked the most ‘online shopping addicted’ countries based on three metrics:
Time spent online weekly (40%)Percentage of people shopping online monthly (40%)Average percentage of income spent online (20%).
Data sources included NordVPN’s Research Lab for weekly online time (measured in hours and minutes), reports from DataReportal and Eurostat for monthly online shopping statistics, and market research for expenditure and income.A final score was calculated for each country by combining the normalised values, and countries were ranked in descending order based on their total scores.
Top 10
China
China leads the rankings making it the most online-shopping addicted country. Chinese consumers dedicate over eight hours per week to browsing online stores – the highest browsing time globally. Though nearly two-thirds of the population makes monthly online purchases, their spending accounts for just 3.8% of household income.
South Korea
In second place, South Korea consumers spend less time online at more than four and a half hours, but they allocate 8.5% of their income to online shopping—the second-highest among the countries analysed.
Taiwan
Third overall, Taiwan consumers here spend four and a half hours weekly shopping online, and 60% shop monthly. They spend 6.1% of their income online, more than China but less than South Korea.
The United Kingdom
The UK comes fourth. UK consumers spend 8.8% of their income online, amounting to more than $4K annually — the highest spending among all countries analysed.
Mexico
Mexico places fifth in the global rankings. While nearly two-thirds of Mexicans (64.5%) make monthly online purchases and dedicate around three hours weekly to browsing, their average spending is quite conservative – marking the lowest per capita expenditure among all surveyed nations.
The US
The US ranks sixth but it has the highest percentage of people shopping online monthly, at 67.5%, but consumers spend only 2 hours and 5 minutes weekly on e-commerce.
The Netherlands
The Netherlands places seventh with around 58% of Dutch consumers shopping monthly, and spending 5% of their income on e-commerce. This steady participation highlights consistent online buying habits.
Poland
Poland ranks eighth as its consumers spend 1 hour and 44 minutes weekly shopping online, and 60.1% shop monthly. The modest percentage of income spent online is at 3.1%, indicating a more cost-aware approach than higher-ranking countries.
Sweden
Sweden takes ninth place with consumers who spend the least time shopping online at just 38 minutes weekly, with 55.68% of the population shopping monthly. Despite the lower engagement, their e-commerce habits remain steady, with 3.1% of income allocated to online purchases, similar to Poland.
France
France rounds out the top ten. Consumers spend 1 hour and 45 minutes weekly online, and 43.4% shop monthly, the lowest participation rate among the top-ranking countries. However, 4.3% of income is spent online, focusing on quality purchases over frequency.
A spokesperson from Public Desire comments on the study saying that the future of e-commerce is being shaped by the integration of social media and mobile payments.
“What’s fascinating is that a country’s digital payment infrastructure now predicts online shopping engagement better than its economic status.
“We’re seeing this especially in social commerce, where consumers spend considerable time browsing and engaging with shopping content as part of their daily social media routine.
“Success in this new landscape isn’t just about transactions, but about creating digital spaces where shopping naturally blends with social interaction and entertainment.”
