The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) published its “B2C E-Commerce Index 2019” report in which it assesses the readiness of countries to delve in online commerce. The index comprises four indicators, namely internet use penetration, secure servers per 1 million inhabitants, account penetration and a postal reliability score. Upper-income economies occupied the top 10 positions in the 2019 E-commerce index of which eight countries from Europe, in addition to Singapore and Australia. The Netherland topped the list with an index value of 96.4, followed by Switzerland <95.5, global rank: 2>, Singapore <95.1, global rank: 3> and Finland <94.4, global rank: 4>.

On a regional basis, the United Arab Emirates topped the list of the 2019 B2C E-commerce index among the 16 Arab countries covered by the report with an index score of 83.8 and a global rank of 28 in 2019 up from 33 in 2018, followed by Qatar <74.2, global rank: 47>, Saudi Arabia <73.3, global rank: 49> and Kuwait <69.3, global rank: 55>. The UNCTAD commented on Qatar’s significant development in the index, attributing said performance to the country’s robust internet penetration score.

On a local basis, Lebanon came in 7^th among the 16 Arab countries covered by the report, scoring 59.4 in the B2C E-commerce index and ranking 68^th in the world, regressing 5 positions from its 2018 rank. It is worth noting, however, that Lebanon registered the sixth highest score in the region in the UPU postal reliability indicator (67) with an internet use penetration score of 78%, a share of individuals with an account at a financial institution of 45% and some 48 secure servers per 1 million people.