Key figures on e-commerce in Panama 2020

As of June 2020, approximately 45 percent of the Panamanian population had made an online purchase. In full development, the e-commerce market in the Central American country grew an annual average of 12 percent between 2014 and 2019 and, according to forecasts, online sales could reach 270 million U.S. dollars by 2024.

COVID-19 and online purchase adoption

In 2019, it was estimated that more than half of e-commerce users in Panama were aged between 25 and 44 years. That is, young adults who in addition to being more familiar with new technologies, are also becoming financially independent. However, the COVID-19 pandemic may have brought this demographic dominance to an end, as Panamanians of all ages turned to the internet to shop for groceries and supplies over a variety of platforms. More than just a passing fad, everything seems to indicate that online purchases in the Central American country have come to stay. In a survey conducted that same year, nearly nine out of ten respondents said they intended to continue shopping online in the future.

E-commerce landscape in Central America

Home to more than four million internet users, Costa Rica is Central America's most connected nation. With over 80 percent of its population online, this market has established itself as the e-commerce leader in the sub-region, with a revenue estimated to exceed 1.3 billion U.S. dollars in 2021. Coming in second is Panama, with revenues expected to reach some 577 million dollars by the end of that same year. Further north, in Guatemala, e-commerce adoption is still in full swing, with cross-border accounting for over half of online transaction revenues in the country.