38 Social Commerce Statistics, Trends, and Data Points for 2026

Social commerce, the sale of goods directly inside social media apps, has moved from experiment to material revenue channel. This research asset compiles verified figures on global and US market size, buyer counts, platform share (TikTok Shop, Instagram, Facebook), and the wide gap between the United States and China, and it flags where forecasts disagree so the numbers can be quoted safely.

One warning runs through every section: US and China figures are not comparable, and forecasts vary sharply by publisher and definition. We separate global from US throughout and attribute each number to its publisher and year.

Executive Summary

• US social commerce sales reached an estimated $71.62 billion in 2024 and are forecast at $87.02 billion in 2025, up 21.5% year over year (Source: EMARKETER, 2025).
• US social commerce sales are projected to surpass $100 billion for the first time in 2026, growing another 18.0% (Source: EMARKETER, 2025).
• Global social commerce revenue was an estimated $699.4 billion in 2024 and is forecast at roughly $821 billion in 2025, per Statista (Source: Statista, 2024).
• Statista forecasts global social commerce will pass $1 trillion by 2028, at a 13.7% CAGR from 2023 to 2028 (Source: Statista, 2024).
• Accenture projected the global market would grow from $492 billion in 2021 to $1.2 trillion by 2025, three times faster than traditional ecommerce (Source: Accenture, 2022).
• TikTok Shop generated $15.82 billion in US sales in 2025, up 108.0% year over year, and held 18.2% of US social commerce (Source: EMARKETER, 2025).
• China’s social commerce is structurally larger: it made up more than 13% of Chinese ecommerce in 2021, versus roughly 5% of US ecommerce projected for 2025 (Source: McKinsey, 2022).
• In 2024, 100.7 million Americans shopped on social platforms, 45.8% of US social media users (Source: EMARKETER, 2024).

Key Findings

• US social commerce sales were an estimated $71.62 billion in 2024 (Source: EMARKETER, 2024).
• US social commerce sales are forecast at $87.02 billion in 2025, up 21.5% year over year (Source: EMARKETER, 2025).
• US social commerce sales will grow 18.0% in 2026 and surpass $100 billion for the first time (Source: EMARKETER, 2025).
• 100.7 million US social media users shopped on social platforms in 2024, 45.8% of US social media users (Source: EMARKETER, 2024).
• US social commerce buyers are projected to reach 116.9 million by 2028, 49.5% of US social media users (Source: EMARKETER, 2024).
• TikTok Shop reached $15.82 billion in US sales in 2025, up 108.0% year over year (Source: EMARKETER, 2025).
• TikTok Shop held 18.2% of total US social commerce in 2025 and is projected to reach 24.1% by 2027 (Source: EMARKETER, 2025).
• Global social commerce revenue was an estimated $699.4 billion in 2024, per Statista (Source: Statista, 2024).
• Global social commerce revenue is forecast at about $821 billion in 2025 and $908.5 billion in 2026, per Statista (Source: Statista, 2024).
• Statista projects global social commerce to exceed $1 trillion by 2028 at a 13.7% CAGR from 2023 to 2028 (Source: Statista, 2024).
• Accenture projected the global market would grow from $492 billion in 2021 to $1.2 trillion by 2025 (Source: Accenture, 2022).
• Accenture found eight in ten social media users in China buy through social commerce, while most UK and US social users had not (Source: Accenture, 2022).
• McKinsey reported China’s social commerce reached $352 billion in 2021, more than 13% of Chinese ecommerce (Source: McKinsey, 2022).
• McKinsey estimated US social commerce at $37 billion in 2021, projected to reach roughly $80 billion, or about 5% of US ecommerce, by 2025 (Source: McKinsey, 2022).
• EMARKETER forecasts TikTok Shop US sales to surpass $20 billion in 2026 and exceed $30 billion by 2028 (Source: EMARKETER, 2025).

Market Size: Global

Global market-size estimates vary widely because publishers define social commerce differently, from directly-checked-out in-app sales to all social-influenced purchases. The most consistently cited series is Statista’s.

Statista put global social commerce revenue at an estimated $699.4 billion in 2024 (Source: Statista, 2024).

Statista forecasts global revenue of about $821 billion in 2025, a 17.4% increase, then $908.5 billion in 2026, a 10.7% increase (Source: Statista, 2024).

Statista projects the global market will surpass $1 trillion by 2028, implying a 13.7% CAGR from 2023 to 2028 (Source: Statista, 2024).

An earlier Accenture study projected $1.2 trillion globally by 2025, up from $492 billion in 2021, growth three times faster than traditional ecommerce (Source: Accenture, 2022).

What it means: the $821 billion (Statista) versus $1.2 trillion (Accenture) gap for the same rough timeframe shows how much the definition and methodology change the headline. Quote the publisher and the year, never a single “the market is worth X” number.

Market Size and Buyers: United States

US figures are more tightly clustered because EMARKETER is the dominant forecaster and reports a consistent time series.

US social commerce sales were an estimated $71.62 billion in 2024 (Source: EMARKETER, 2024).

US social commerce sales are forecast at $87.02 billion in 2025, up 21.5% year over year (Source: EMARKETER, 2025).

US sales will grow 18.0% in 2026 and surpass $100 billion for the first time (Source: EMARKETER, 2025).

The US had 100.7 million social commerce buyers in 2024, 45.8% of US social media users (Source: EMARKETER, 2024).

US buyers are projected to reach 116.9 million by 2028, 49.5% of US social media users (Source: EMARKETER, 2024).

What it means: about one in two US social media users now buys through social, but the channel is still a small slice of total US ecommerce, near 5% on McKinsey’s 2025 estimate, so the growth rate matters more than the absolute size.

Platform Share: TikTok Shop, Instagram, Facebook

US platform share shifted fast when TikTok Shop launched. Facebook and Instagram (Meta) still hold the majority of dollars, but TikTok Shop is the fastest-growing driver.

TikTok Shop reached $15.82 billion in US sales in 2025, up 108.0% year over year (Source: EMARKETER, 2025).

TikTok Shop held 18.2% of total US social commerce in 2025 (Source: EMARKETER, 2025).

The remaining roughly three-quarters of US social commerce was led mainly by Facebook Marketplace and Instagram (Source: EMARKETER via MassMarket Retailers, 2025).

TikTok Shop’s US share is projected to reach 24.1% by 2027 (Source: EMARKETER, 2025).

TikTok had 43.8% of its US users classified as buyers in 2024, the highest user-to-buyer conversion of any US platform (Source: EMARKETER, 2024).

What it means: Meta platforms still own the dollars, but TikTok Shop converts a higher share of its users, which is why it is closing the gap on share while sales roughly double year over year.

US vs China: A Structural Gap, Not a Rounding Error

The single most important framing in this topic is that US and China figures are not comparable. China’s social commerce is deeper, more mature, and a far larger share of ecommerce.

McKinsey reported China’s social commerce reached $352 billion in 2021, more than 13% of Chinese ecommerce (Source: McKinsey, 2022).

McKinsey estimated US social commerce at $37 billion in 2021, projected to reach roughly $80 billion, or about 5% of US ecommerce, by 2025 (Source: McKinsey, 2022).

Accenture found eight in ten social media users in China buy through social commerce for a given category, while most UK and US social users had not made such a purchase (Source: Accenture, 2022).

Accenture projected China’s social commerce market would grow about 26% to more than $1 trillion by 2025 (Source: Accenture, 2022).

Statista data indicates China’s social commerce share of online retail was 14.3% in 2021, forecast toward roughly 17% by 2025 (Source: Statista, 2024).

What it means: China’s channel share (13% to 17% of ecommerce) is roughly three times the US level (about 5%). Any global “average” masks this gap, so global forecasts are dominated by China and should not be read as a US signal.

Buyers, Conversion, and Demographics

Adoption is heavily skewed by age and by country. Younger US cohorts drive most social buying.

About one-third of US adults aged 18 to 34 have made a purchase on social media, versus 23% of those 35 to 54 and 13% of those 55 to 65 (Source: EMARKETER, 2026).

73% of US Gen Zers say social media is their main source for learning about new products (Source: EMARKETER, 2026).

58% of US consumers over 18 have made a purchase due to an influencer endorsement (Source: EMARKETER, 2026).

Statista country data shows Thailand and Colombia near 91% of online shoppers buying via social in 2023, with China near 90%, far above the US (Source: Statista, 2024).

What it means: social commerce is a youth-led, discovery-driven channel, and the highest-adoption markets are in Asia and Latin America, not the US.

Forecasts and Growth Rates

Growth is decelerating from very high early rates as the base gets larger, but it remains well above general ecommerce growth.

US social commerce growth is forecast to slow from 21.5% in 2025 to 18.0% in 2026 (Source: EMARKETER, 2025).

Global growth is forecast to slow from 17.4% in 2025 to 10.7% in 2026, per Statista (Source: Statista, 2024).

TikTok Shop US sales are forecast to surpass $20 billion in 2026 and exceed $30 billion by 2028 (Source: EMARKETER, 2025).

What it means: forecasts here carry unusual risk because TikTok’s US operating status has been subject to regulatory uncertainty, and a single platform is driving much of the US growth curve.

Data Tables

Table 1: US Social Commerce Sales and Growth (EMARKETER)

Sources: EMARKETER US Social Commerce Forecast 2024; EMARKETER press release, 2025.

Table 2: Global Social Commerce Revenue (Statista)

Source: Statista, Social commerce statistics and facts, 2024.

Table 3: US vs China Social Commerce Depth

Sources: McKinsey, 2022; Accenture, 2022. US and China figures use different definitions and years and are not directly comparable.

Table 4: US Platform Share of Social Commerce, 2025 (EMARKETER)

Source: EMARKETER press release, 2025; EMARKETER via MassMarket Retailers, 2025.

Original Synthesis

These three derived insights combine the verified public figures above. Each states its formula, inputs, and limits, and none overstates.

1. US-to-China channel-depth ratio. Using McKinsey’s channel-share figures (US ~5% of ecommerce projected 2025; China 13%+ in 2021), the US operates at roughly one-third to two-fifths of China’s social commerce depth. Formula: US share divided by China share. Inputs: McKinsey, 2022. Limitation: the two figures use different base years (2021 China, 2025 US projection) and different definitions, so this is an order-of-magnitude signal, not a precise ratio.

2. TikTok Shop as the US growth engine. US social commerce grew from about $71.62 billion (2024) to $87.02 billion (2025), a gain of about $15.4 billion, while TikTok Shop’s own US sales rose from about $7.6 billion to $15.82 billion, a gain of about $8.2 billion. Formula: TikTok Shop’s sales gain divided by total market gain. Inputs: EMARKETER, 2024 and 2025. Result: TikTok Shop accounted for roughly half of the entire US market’s 2025 dollar growth. Limitation: the 2024 TikTok Shop base is implied from the 108% growth rate and should be treated as approximate.

3. Global forecast dispersion. For a 2025 timeframe, published global estimates range from Statista’s ~$821 billion to Accenture’s $1.2 trillion, a spread of about 46% around the lower figure. Formula: (high minus low) divided by low. Inputs: Statista, 2024; Accenture, 2022. Takeaway: the definition and methodology gap is large enough that no single global number should be quoted without its source. Limitation: the two estimates were published in different years, so part of the spread reflects timing, not just methodology.

Charts to Build

• US social commerce sales, 2024-2026. Data: annual US sales and YoY growth. Source: EMARKETER. Insight: the crossing of $100 billion in 2026. Citation-worthy because it dates a clean milestone.
• US vs China share of ecommerce. Data: social commerce as a percent of each country’s ecommerce. Source: McKinsey, 2022. Insight: the roughly 3x depth gap. Citation-worthy because it corrects the common assumption that the US leads.
• TikTok Shop share of US social commerce, 2025-2027. Data: TikTok Shop percent share by year. Source: EMARKETER. Insight: 18.2% rising to 24.1%. Citation-worthy as a single-platform disruption curve.
• Global forecast dispersion for 2025. Data: Statista vs Accenture 2025 estimates side by side. Sources: Statista; Accenture. Insight: the ~46% spread. Citation-worthy because it visualizes forecast uncertainty.
• US social buyers, 2024 vs 2028. Data: buyer counts and percent of social users. Source: EMARKETER. Insight: 100.7M rising to 116.9M. Citation-worthy for adoption trajectory.

Inline chart: US vs China social commerce share of ecommerce

Source: McKinsey, 2022. Bars scaled to share of national ecommerce; figures use different base years and are illustrative.

Methodology

Source-selection criteria: we prioritized the primary forecaster for each geography (EMARKETER for the US), plus Statista, Accenture, and McKinsey for global and China figures. Inclusion required a named publisher, a year, and a stated geography. We excluded aggregator blogs and any multi-trillion-dollar “market report” figures from firms whose methodology we could not verify, because those diverge from the EMARKETER, Statista, Accenture, and McKinsey consensus and would inflate the numbers.

Handling conflicts: where estimates differed (for example, Statista’s ~$821 billion versus Accenture’s $1.2 trillion for global 2025), we presented both with publisher and year rather than averaging them, and flagged the spread. We did not blend US and China figures into a single comparison without noting different base years and definitions.

Derived estimates: the two ratios and one growth-attribution figure in Original Synthesis are arithmetic on the cited public numbers, with inputs and limitations stated. Data limitations: several EMARKETER data points sit partly behind a paywall and are cited from EMARKETER’s own press release and public charts. Date of last update: July 2026.

Source Quality

Tier 1 (primary market research and consultancy with published methodology): McKinsey (social commerce insight), Accenture (Why Shopping’s Set for a Social Revolution). These publish survey sizes and methods.

Tier 2 (established forecasters and data aggregators): EMARKETER (US forecasts and press releases), Statista (global and China revenue series). Widely cited industry-standard forecasters.

Tier 3 (reputable trade press relaying the above): MassMarket Retailers relaying EMARKETER platform-share data.

Most Quotable Statistics

• “US social commerce will pass $100 billion for the first time in 2026.” (EMARKETER, 2025)
• “TikTok Shop’s US sales more than doubled in 2025 to $15.82 billion, 18.2% of the US market.” (EMARKETER, 2025)
• “China’s social commerce is over 13% of its ecommerce; the US is near 5%.” (McKinsey, 2022)
• “Eight in ten Chinese social users buy through social commerce; most US and UK users had not.” (Accenture, 2022)
• “Global social commerce is forecast to top $1 trillion by 2028.” (Statista, 2024)

Data Limitations

US and China figures use different definitions, base years, and currencies, so direct comparison is indicative only. Global market-size estimates diverge sharply by publisher; the range for 2025 alone spans roughly $821 billion to $1.2 trillion. Some EMARKETER data sits behind a subscription and is cited from public press releases and charts. TikTok-dependent US forecasts carry added risk from regulatory uncertainty over TikTok’s US operations. Several figures are forecasts, not actuals, and are labeled as such.

Recommended Dataset Fields

For a downloadable CSV: year; geography (US, China, global); metric (sales_usd, buyers_count, pct_of_ecommerce, pct_of_social_users, yoy_growth); platform (TikTok Shop, Instagram, Facebook, all); value; unit; is_forecast (yes/no); publisher; publication_year; source_url; notes (definition or base-year caveat).

Press Summary

Social commerce has become a real revenue channel, but the numbers depend heavily on where you look. In the United States, EMARKETER forecasts sales of $87.02 billion in 2025, up 21.5%, crossing $100 billion in 2026. TikTok Shop is the growth engine, more than doubling to $15.82 billion in 2025 and taking 18.2% of the US market, though Facebook and Instagram still hold the majority of dollars. Globally, Statista puts 2024 revenue near $699 billion and forecasts more than $1 trillion by 2028, while an earlier Accenture study projected $1.2 trillion by 2025, a gap that shows how much definitions matter. The starkest finding is the US-China divide: McKinsey put China’s social commerce at over 13% of its ecommerce versus roughly 5% in the US, and Accenture found eight in ten Chinese social users already buy through social. Any global figure is dominated by China and should not be read as a US signal. All figures should be quoted with publisher and year.

Suggested Headlines

• US Social Commerce Will Cross $100 Billion in 2026, and TikTok Shop Is Driving It
• China’s Social Commerce Is Three Times Deeper Than America’s
• The $400 Billion Question: Why Social Commerce Forecasts Disagree
• TikTok Shop Doubled to $15.8 Billion in 2025. Meta Still Owns the Rest.
• Eight in Ten Chinese Social Users Buy In-App. Most Americans Still Do Not.

FAQ

How big is US social commerce?

EMARKETER forecasts US social commerce sales of $87.02 billion in 2025, up 21.5% year over year (Source: EMARKETER, 2025).

When will US social commerce reach $100 billion?

EMARKETER projects US sales will surpass $100 billion for the first time in 2026, growing 18.0% (Source: EMARKETER, 2025).

How big is global social commerce?

Statista estimated global revenue at $699.4 billion in 2024, forecast to top $1 trillion by 2028 (Source: Statista, 2024).

Why do global forecasts differ so much?

Accenture projected $1.2 trillion for 2025 while Statista forecasts about $821 billion, because they define and measure social commerce differently (Sources: Accenture, 2022; Statista, 2024).

How does the US compare to China?

McKinsey put China’s social commerce at more than 13% of its ecommerce versus about 5% in the US projected for 2025 (Source: McKinsey, 2022).

Which platform leads US social commerce?

Facebook Marketplace and Instagram hold the majority of US social commerce dollars, while TikTok Shop held 18.2% in 2025 (Source: EMARKETER, 2025).

How fast is TikTok Shop growing?

TikTok Shop’s US sales rose 108.0% in 2025 to $15.82 billion (Source: EMARKETER, 2025).

How many Americans shop on social media?

100.7 million US social media users shopped on social platforms in 2024, 45.8% of US social users (Source: EMARKETER, 2024).

Which age group buys most on social?

About one-third of US adults aged 18 to 34 have made a social media purchase, versus 13% of those 55 to 65 (Source: EMARKETER, 2026).

Which countries have the highest social commerce adoption?

Statista data shows Thailand and Colombia near 91% of online shoppers buying via social in 2023, with China near 90% (Source: Statista, 2024).

About This Research

This asset was compiled by CO Consulting, a research-driven growth-consulting firm, using publicly available figures from EMARKETER, Statista, Accenture, and McKinsey. If your team needs a tailored read on social commerce for a specific market or platform, you can book a consultation.

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