Online Food Delivery Market to Hit $151.5B in Revenue and 1.6B users in 2021, a 10% Jump in a Year

The COVID-19 lockdown shut down restaurants and dining rooms across the world, causing huge revenue losses for the businesses in this market

by Jastra Kranjec – StockApps

As the pandemic persists, many of them turned to food delivery services as the only way to keep their business afloat.

According to data presented by Stock Apps, the global online food delivery market is expected to hit $151.5bn in revenue and 1.6bn users in 2021, a 10% jump year-over-year.

“Besides a substantial revenue increase, the COVID-19 also triggered a significant jump in the number of people using online food delivery services”

Revenues Surged by Almost 30% Amid COVID-19 Outbreak

In 2017, the revenue in the online food delivery segment amounted to $76.2bn, revealed the Statista survey. By the end of 2019, this figure rose to $107.4bn, a 41% jump in two years.

However, the COVID-19 outbreak caused a surge in the number of online food orders, as people turned to food delivery services in limited or no-dining options. Statistics show that the global online food delivery market’s revenue jumped by 27% year-over-year, reaching $136.4bn in 2020. The increasing trend is set to continue in the following years, with the figure rising to $182.3bn by 2024.

Statista data revealed the platform-to-consumer delivery revenues jumped by 32% YoY to $70.7bn in 2020. In the next three years, this figure is forecast to touch almost $97bn.

Many restaurants also added delivery during the pandemic, and plan to continue investing in the service. In 2019, revenues of the global restaurant-to-consumer delivery segment amounted to $53.6bn. This figure jumped by 22.5% to $65.7bn in 2020. The increasing trend is set to continue in the following years, with revenues rising to $85.5bn by 2024.

The Number of Users Jumped by Almost 25% in 2020

Besides a substantial revenue increase, the COVID-19 also triggered a significant jump in the number of people using online food delivery services. In 2019, the number of users amounted to 1.17bn. Statistics show this figure jumped by 25% YoY, reaching 1.46bn in 2020. In the next three years, the number of people using online food delivery services is set to reach almost two billion globally.

Statistics show the number of users in the platform-to-consumer segment surged by 30% amid the coronavirus outbreak, rising from 539 million in 2019 to 704.7 million in 2020. In 2021, this figure is expected to increase to 791 million.

The restaurant-to-consumer segment hit 760 million users in 2020, a 20% increase year-over-year. Statista data indicate the number of people ordering food from restaurants online is expected to reach over 821 million in 2021.

Analyzed by geography, China represents the world’s largest online food delivery market with $51.5bn in revenue in 2020, a 28% jump amid the COVID-19 outbreak. Statistics show the Chinese market’s revenues are expected to rise to almost $57bn in 2021.

The United States ranked as the second-largest market with $28.4bn in revenue in 2021, almost a 30% increase in two years. The Indian online food delivery market, as the third-largest globally, is set to reach $11.6bn value this year. The United Kingdom and Brazil follow with $6.5bn and $3.8bn, respectively.

Statistics show the combined revenues of the five biggest online food delivery markets are expected to hit $107.3bn in 2021, a 40% increase in two years.

Jastra Kranjec is an editor, writer, and PR specialist with years of experience in the news, research, and report writing. Over the years, she has worked in different fields of journalism and public relations, including politics, economy, and financial markets.