Fact of the Week: US E-Commerce in 2017 Yielded Revenues of $7.6 Trillion, With Goods Sales Increasing 7 Percent From 2016

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, “E-Stats 2017: Measuring the Electronic Economy,” September 23, 2019.

Commentary: U.S. economic data has lagged behind the explosion of the digital economy, preventing researchers from fully understanding the extent of e-commerce and its impact on the broader economy. The Census Bureau is working to remedy this, releasing the first quarterly e-commerce report in August and including services in the annual E-Stats report for the first time in September. These show e-commerce sales in 2017 totalled $7.6 trillion. This figure included e-commerce goods sales of $6.6 trillion—up $426 billion, or 7 percent, from 2016—and e-commerce services revenue that surpassed $1 trillion, making up 6.6 percent of all services trade.