Ooh la la. French ecommerce sales to hit 45 billion euro in 2012

In the first half of 2011, turnover for all French ecommerce websites combined reached €17.5 billion (£14.9 billion, $23.6 billion), that’s a 20 percent year-on-year increase, according to a study by Invest in France. The report also highlights that in the first quarter of 2011, the iCE 40 index, which is made up of the top 40 ecommerce sites in France, showed a year-on-year growth of 11 percent and according to FEVAD, France’s ecommerce and remote sales federation, in 2012 ecommerce is set to accumulate sales of €45 billion (£$61 billion, £38.4 billion), putting it on a par with telecommunications and aerospace sales.

The study also shows that some of the most popular ecommerce sites in France during the first quarter of 2011 were eBay (9.1 million visitors per month), Amazon (9.1 million visitors), PriceMinister (7.8 million visitors) and la Fnac (6.9 million visitors).