MANILA -E-commerce sales in the Philippines are estimated to reach $24 billion by 2025, mostly driven by Filipino consumers’ strong interest in imported products especially after the pandemic, a report by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) said.
The USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service, in a report, projected overall e-commerce sales to grow at a compound annual growth rate of nine percent.
At present, various estimates placed the total value of e-commerce in the country at around $17 billion.
“The unprecedented growth in B2C cross-border e-commerce (CBE) purchases of food and beverage products can be traced back to the aftermath of the pandemic, which inadvertently spurred new ways for Filipino consumers to acquire a variety of imported goods directly,” the USDA-FAS said.
Half of the more than 70 million online users nationwide participate in CBE, with purchases (mostly nonfood products) accounting for a fourth of the e-commerce market.
It is expecting purchases of food and beverage products through CBE to “quadruple” to $5 million within two years as more Filipino consumers become aware of CBE.
The USDA attributed its rosy outlook to the emergence of freight forwarders and virtual platforms, which have encouraged Filipino consumers to import food and beverage products for personal consumption.
Purchases rose from zero in 2019 to nearly $1 million in the previous year, according to the report.
Customers mostly bought food supplements, baked goods, chocolates, confectionery, whey protein powder, pet food, coffee and tea, flavored energy drink, wine, beer and spirits, prepared vegetables, fruits, nuts, dairy products (infant milk, flavored milk and cheeses), honey and olive oil in the past year.
The USDA said that CBE local service providers estimated there were more than 12,000 individual shipments with an average net weight of 2.2 kilograms and an average free on board value of $70. INQ
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