Tiago Bianchi
Research expert covering internet & gaming in Latin America and Spain
Get in touch with us nowA tortuous way to the web
Despite the regional increase in mobile connectivity and the fact that more than 66.7 percent of its population prefers to access the web via mobile phones, Peru has one of the lowest internet traffic rates originating from mobile devices in Latin America. As of 2022, more than half of its web volume originates from desktop devices, similar to countries like Barbados, Dominica, and Venezuela.Still, the scenario has seen great improvements. Despite Peru’s enormous political instability, the opportunity of the internet is growing and spreading: the country’s agrarian populations are experiencing unseen improvements to their access to the web, with a growth of more than 27 percent of service penetration in rural areas from 2019 to 2021.
Social media: more competition to the top
Facebook is by far the most popular network in Peru, having in the Andean country its fifth largest audience in Latin America. Being visited by more than 80 percent of the country’s population, the flagship of Meta Platforms Inc. is more popular among young adults and significantly shapes the behavior of social media users in the country.However, competitors like the video-based app TikTok had an explosion of popularity in Peru during the last two years. Following its success throughout the region, the video-based platform now has an audience of 22.29 million users in Peru, becoming its second biggest social network in the country and putting higher stakes in its social media landscape.
E-commerce
Despite the enormity of its problems with internet access, Peru still manages to have an e-commerce economy with a size comparable to the one of Chile. With more than 13.9 million online shoppers as of 2021, the boom in the sector during the coronavirus pandemic gave Peru one of the biggest regional increases in retail sales of the sector in 2020, thus more than doubling Peru’s e-commerce sales value between 2019 to 2021.The increase in mobile connectivity is also affecting how Peruvians shop online: besides better prices, the convenience of making instant purchases is the main reason for them to make purchases online. Despite the popularity and size of MercadoLibre in Latin America, citizens of Peru are more likely to use Amazon as their online shopping option.
