E-commerce revenue in Latin America 2021-2022, by country

In 2022, e-commerce in Brazil was forecast to generate more than 49 billion U.S. dollars in revenue, a 20 percent increase from the 41 billion dollars recorded a year earlier. While  Mexico ranked second in Latin America and the Caribbean, with approximately 46.5 billion dollars in online sales revenue projected for 2022, Argentina would surpass 11 billion dollars that year – over 19 percent more than the 9.5 billion dollar revenue estimated for 2021.

A fragile position

Brazil may be the leading e-commerce market in Latin America, but its position atop the leaderboard grows fragile as Mexico continues to gain traction. While the share of consumers using e-commerce is higher in Brazil than in Mexico, the latter experienced remarkable growth in retail e-commerce revenues during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021. That led the North American country to grab an even larger portion of the pie, reinforcing Mexico's potential to lead e-commerce in the region.

Homegrown e-commerce: Brazil vs. Mexico

Still, Brazil is home to several of the region’s leading e-commerce companies. As a matter of fact, in terms of total sales, three of the top four online retail companies in Latin America were founded there. In Mexico, several homegrown players are among the most popular e-commerce websites in the country, but unlike their Brazilian counterparts, much of their influence has yet to reach the greater Latin American region.