Turkey: E-commerce volume up 64% in H1 amid COVID-19

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) - Spurred by the novel coronavirus pandemic, Turkey's e-commerce volume surged 64% year-on-year in the first half of 2020, the country's trade minister announced Thursday.

The January-June figure hit 97.7 billion Turkish liras ($14.2 billion), up from 55.9 billion Turkish liras ($9.98 billion) in the same period last year, Ruhsar Pekcan said.

She underlined that 91% of the total e-trade volume comprised of domestic spending in the first six months of the year, versus 81% in 2019.

The share of e-commerce in the country's total trade reached 14.2% in January-June, up from 8.4% in the same period last year, Pekcan added.