KEY HIGHLIGHTS
- France recorded a 41-point Accumulation Index Score in 2023, placing it 10th among 28 EU member states and three points above the 38-point EU average.
- With 66% of the French population buying online and only 25% selling online in 2023, France shows one of the clearest buyer-to-seller imbalances in Western Europe, with sellers accounting for fewer than two in five buyers.
- Ireland leads the European Accumulation Index with a 55-point score, while Bulgaria records the lowest at 18 points, placing France firmly in the upper third of the continent’s digital goods retention landscape.
Across Europe, people are buying more online than ever before. Yet a growing body of data suggests that what gets purchased does not always get passed on. France sits at an unusual intersection: a country whose online shopping rates are well above the EU average, but whose resale participation leaves a substantial gap between what enters French homes and what enters the market.
This analysis, conducted by YourSurprise using data from INSEE, calculated the accumulation Index by subtracting the share of people who sold goods or services online from the share who bought online, producing a single score that reflects the net retention of digital purchases within a population. The underlying data draws from the Eurostat ICT Household Survey 2023, with supplementary French data sourced from INSEE. The survey covers EU residents aged 16 to 74 who live in ordinary housing and have used the internet in the three months before the survey. France’s inputs are 66% online buyers minus 25% online sellers, yielding an index score of 41.
28 EU Nations Ranked by Accumulation Index Score: France Places 10th with 41 Points, Three Above the EU Average
| Rank | Country | Online Buyers | Online Sellers | Accumulation Index Score |
| 10 | France | 66 | 25 | 41 |
| 11 | EU Average | 58 | 20 | 38 |
France’s 41-point score stands three points above the 38-point EU average, confirming that the gap between online buyers and sellers in France is wider than across the bloc as a whole. Ranked 10th among 28 EU member states, France sits firmly in the upper third of the European distribution, a position driven by a buyer penetration rate of 66% against a seller participation rate of 25%.
Looking at the study, a spokesperson from YourSurprise commented,
“France’s data tells an interesting story about how digital purchasing habits are evolving. When more than six in ten French internet users are buying online but only one in four is selling, it reflects a broader shift in how people relate to the things they own. Gifts, in particular, tend to stay, and understanding that dynamic matters for anyone thinking about what people genuinely value.”
France’s Resell-to-Buy Ratio of 37.9% Ranks Among the Lower Half of EU Nations
France’s online seller share of 25% represents 37.9% of its buyer share of 66%, meaning that for every 100 French people who bought online in 2023, fewer than 38 went on to sell. By comparison, countries such as Denmark (42.5%), Malta (63.3%), and Hungary (57.6%) show significantly higher resale participation relative to their buyer base, indicating that French online shoppers are proportionally less likely to re-enter the secondary market than their peers in several other EU nations.
This ratio positions France closer to economies where purchased goods tend to be retained rather than recirculated, a pattern consistent with its above-average accumulation score. The gap between France’s buyer and seller rates is not the widest in Europe, but it is notably sustained at a high absolute level of purchasing activity.
11 of 28 EU Nations Exceed the 38-Point EU Accumulation Average, France Among Them
Of the 28 EU member states included in the dataset, 11 score above the 38-point EU average on the Accumulation Index. France, with 41 points, is among this group, alongside Ireland (55), Czechia (53), Luxembourg (53), Germany (51), Sweden (51), Denmark (46), Greece (43), Cyprus (43), and the Netherlands (43). Estonia matches the EU average exactly at 38 points. The remaining 17 countries fall below it.
The countries that score above the EU average span a diverse range of online buyer participation rates, from 48% in Greece to 84% in the Netherlands, suggesting that a high accumulation score is not driven solely by high purchasing rates but also by the relative reluctance of buyers in those markets to resell. France, with a buyer share of 66%, sits comfortably within this elevated tier.
Methodology
The Accumulation Index Score is calculated by subtracting the share of internet users who sold goods or services online from the share who made an online purchase, both expressed as percentages of the surveyed population. The primary data source is the Eurostat ICT Household Survey 2023, which covers EU residents aged 16 to 74, living in ordinary housing, and who had used the internet in the three months preceding the survey. Supplementary data for France was sourced from INSEE. The EU average baseline is derived from Eurostat’s reported figures of 58% online buyers and 20% online sellers, producing a baseline score of 38 points. France’s specific inputs are 66% online buyers minus 25% online sellers, yielding an index score of 41.
Data Sources
- INSEE Digital Behaviour and E-Commerce Survey: https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/8616823?sommaire=8616883
- Research Dataset: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1QBL9lXrvO88ouV47XaZeMcKJyQmvX6-YAcMk8Zcbrck/edit?gid=1409430819#gid=1409430819
- Study by: https://www.yoursurprise.fr/
About YourSurprise
The study was conducted by YourSurprise, founded by two friends with one simple idea: to create gifts that truly touch people. Today, the company’s passionate team continues to design personalised gifts that make every moment meaningful and help people make others feel special.