59% of Europeans shopped online, up from 21% in 2008
59% of European Internet users used the Internet to make purchases during 2012.
According to Eurostat, in the 28 countries of the European Union, 32% of Internet users bought clothes and sports equipment and made travel and hotel reservations online, while in 2008 this percentage was 21%.
Books and magazines come in second place with 23%, compared to 19% in 2008, but only 9% of internet users bought food online compared to 6% in 2008, according to a Eurostat report published today.
The British are in first place with 82%, followed by the Danes and Swedes with 79%. The top five are completed by the Germans with 77% and the Luxembourgers with 73%.
At the opposite end are the Italians, as only 29% of internet users made purchases online, the Bulgarians (17%) and the Romanians (11%).
According to Eurostat, 36% of Greek Internet users made purchases online, mainly clothing, sports equipment, but also travel and hotel reservations (15%), while only 7% bought books and magazines.

