The top five markets for e-commerce sales are likely to start witnessing a decline in the growth rate by the year 2020, even as e-commerce sales across the world reach €1.5 trillion in the same year, according to a recent report. The five markets that are expected to make the largest contribution to this number are China, US, UK, Japan and Germany.

The report titled ‘Top 5 Country B2C E-commerce Sales Forecasts: 2016 to 2020’ by yStats states that China is likely to remain the largest and the fastest growing market in the e-commerce sector. It is also expected to be the only country among the top 5 nations to have a growth rate of over 20 per cent over the forecast period.

Besides China, double-digit growth rates of online retail sales are also expected in Japan, the world’s fourth and Asia-Pacific’s second largest e-retail market. The UK is the leader among the top 5 in B2C e-commerce’s share of total retail sales, and is thus projected to see some of the lowest growth rates through 2020, says the report.

A common trend predicted by the majority of primary sources cited in the report is declining year-on-year growth rates as these markets mature.

The yStats report also lists the factors that will influence the development of the e-retail sector in these countries in the near future, which include the rise of m-commerce sales, omni-channel features and cross-border online shopping.