Results of FY2023 E-Commerce Market Survey Compiled

1. Summary of the research results

1. Scale of the domestic EC market (business-to-consumer [B-to-C] and business-to-business [B-to-B])

In 2023, the scale of the domestic B-to-C EC market increased to 24.8 trillion yen (up by 9.23% from 22.7 trillion yen in the previous year, and 20.7 trillion yen in the year before). In addition, the scale of the domestic B-to-B EC market increased to 465.2 trillion yen (up by 10.7% from 420.2 trillion yen in the previous year, and 372.7 trillion yen in the year before).

The EC ratio¹ was 9.38% (up by 0.25 percentage points year-over-year) for B-to-C EC and 40.0% (up by 2.5 percentage points year-over-year) for B-to-B EC, showing an increasing trend and continuous progress in the computerization of commercial transactions.

The scale of the B-to-C EC market by sector is as shown below.

A. Merchandising sector

In the merchandising sector, food, drinks, and liquor (2.9299 trillion yen), domestic electrical appliances, AV equipment, and PCs and peripherals (2.6838 trillion yen), clothes and apparel goods (2.6712 trillion yen), and household goods, furniture, and interiors (2.4721 trillion yen) account for large shares. The respective totals of these top four categories all exceeds 2 trillion yen and together accounts for 73% of the merchandising sector.

The EC ratios were high for books and visual and music software (53.45%), domestic electrical appliances, AV equipment, PCs and peripherals (42.88%), and household goods, furniture, and interiors (31.54%).

B. Service sector

In the service sector, travel services (3.1953 trillion yen) accounted for the largest share. Following on from the previous year, the market scales of travel services, eating and drinking services, and ticket sales dramatically increased in 2023, after the sharp drop due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

C. Digital sector

In the digital sector, online games (1.2626 trillion yen) accounted for the largest share. However, its market scale shrank by 3.6% year-over-year.

2. Scale of the domestic EC market (consumer-to-consumer [C-to-C])

In recent years, the C-to-C EC market² has been dramatically expanding as an EC channel. In light of this trend, METI has been estimating the scale of the market in Japan since the 2016 survey.

The scale of the C-to-C EC market in 2023 is estimated to be 2.4817 trillion yen (up by 5.0% year-over-year).

3. Market scale of cross-border EC between Japan, the U.S., and China

In 2023, the market scale of cross-border EC between Japan, the U.S., and China increased in all three countries. In particular, the amount purchased through cross-border EC by Chinese consumers from Japanese business operators was 2.4301 trillion yen (up by 7.7% year-over-year) and 2.9610 trillion yen from U.S. business operators (up by 7.7% year-over-year), continuing the previous year's increasing trends.

2. Outline of the E-Commerce Market Survey

This survey has been conducted every year since FY1998 with the aim of discovering the trends in the EC market and the current situation regarding its users. This was the 26th survey.

In addition to the domestic market scale of business-to-consumer, business-to-business, and consumer-to-consumer EC, the survey has also been investigating the market trends in B-to-C cross-border EC (between Japan, the U.S., and China).

Related Material

• Report (in Japanese)(PDF:2,592KB)

Division in Charge

Digital Economy Division, Commerce and Information Policy Bureau