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In the closest verified annual comparison, e-commerce represented 16.1% of U.S. retail sales in 2024, while internet sales represented 27.1% of retail sales in Great Britain. Those figures are not quite the headline’s rounded 17% and 28%, and they describe retail sales—not the share of people who shop online. They show a substantial measured gap, but they do not explain why it exists.
What do the latest comparable annual figures show?
The U.S. Census Bureau reported that e-commerce accounted for 16.1% of total U.S. retail sales across calendar 2024. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) series gives Great Britain an annual internet-sales share of 27.1% for 2024. The U.S. figure appears in the Census Bureau’s fourth-quarter 2024 release; the ONS figure is in its Internet sales as a percentage of total retail sales series, released 18 September 2026.
| Measure | United States | Great Britain |
|---|---|---|
| Period | Calendar year 2024 | Calendar year 2024 |
| Online retail share | 16.1% of total retail sales | 27.1% of total retail sales |
| Source and release | U.S. Census Bureau, 2024 fourth-quarter release, published 2025 | ONS series J4MC, released 18 September 2026 |
| Geography | United States | Great Britain |
| Seasonal treatment | Annual figure; the release separately identifies adjusted and unadjusted quarterly figures | Annual series; the cited series identifies its measure as internet sales as a percentage of total retail sales |
The annual figures differ by 11.0 percentage points. This is a useful same-year comparison, but not proof that the agencies’ methods are perfectly harmonized. The Census Bureau says its estimates draw on the Monthly Retail Trade Survey and administrative records. ONS identifies its measure as internet sales as a proportion of total retail sales. Each number should be read with its source, period and definition rather than treated as a universal measure independent of statistical method.
Why can a U.S. figure near 17% differ from the annual figure?
The period and seasonal treatment matter. The Census Bureau’s 2024 release gives an annual U.S. share of 16.1%, but its fourth-quarter figures are 16.4% seasonally adjusted and 17.9% unadjusted. A quarter—especially an unadjusted one—should not be casually compared with another country’s annual share. The Bureau’s release reports the annual and quarterly values separately.
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For another illustration of why the label matters, the Census Bureau’s 2024 release gives 15.3% for the U.S. annual share in 2023. Its current quarterly page reports 17.1% for seasonally adjusted U.S. e-commerce in Q2 2026 and 16.4% not adjusted; that page says seasonal adjustments are applied where indicated but the figures are not adjusted for price changes. These are later observations, not a replacement for a matched 2024 annual comparison.
What does the Great Britain trend look like?
ONS’s annual series traces a sharp rise around the start of the decade, followed by a retreat from its peak and a relatively high level in the latest years shown. The percentages are annual shares of retail sales, not monthly readings.
| Year | Great Britain internet-sales share |
|---|---|
| 2019 | 19.2% |
| 2020 | 28.1% |
| 2021 | 30.7% |
| 2024 | 27.1% |
| 2025 | 27.5% |
These annual values come from the ONS J4MC series, released 18 September 2026. The series describes what changed, not what caused it. The rise from 19.2% in 2019 to 28.1% in 2020 and 30.7% in 2021 does not, by itself, establish why online retail’s share grew or why later values were lower.
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Why not use a monthly figure such as 28%?
Monthly statistics answer a different question from an annual average. ONS reported a 27.8% Great Britain online share in July 2025, up from 27.5% in June, in its July 2025 bulletin. In its December 2025 release, ONS reported 28.3%, up from 28.0% in November. Those month-to-month movements are not interchangeable with the 27.5% annual value for 2025.
ONS says its monthly retail data come from the Monthly Business Survey’s Retail Sales Inquiry. Seasonal adjustment is used to remove calendar and seasonal effects, but monthly observations can still move and the series may be revised. ONS also cautions that non-store retailing is mostly online but includes stalls and markets, so the categories should not be treated as identical in every respect.
What do these percentages measure—and what do they not?
They measure online or internet retail sales as a share of total retail sales. They do not tell you what percentage of residents shop online, how many orders are placed, or what fraction of all household spending is online. A country can have a high sales share without every shopper buying online, and the percentage alone says nothing about order frequency or the number of customers.
The comparison also concerns the United States and Great Britain—not the entire United Kingdom. The ONS series cited here covers Great Britain. Its figures should not be relabeled as a UK-wide result.
Does the gap show that the internet matters less in America?
No. The statistics establish different measured shares of retail sales, not the cause of the difference. The cited releases do not isolate the effects of broadband access, population density, delivery infrastructure, retailer mix, tax or consumer preferences. Nor do they show that having access to the same internet should produce the same retail behavior. Any explanation based on those factors would need separate evidence.
The headline is best read as a prompt to compare outcomes, not as a controlled comparison of two countries’ technology or shopping habits. A fair reading keeps the year, geography, denominator and statistical treatment attached to each percentage.
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