95+ newest BNPL research stats from around the world

(Updated Aug 14, 2023

In the payments world, buy now pay later continues to grow in popularity with consumers, particularly in the challenging global economy. As the best single source for breaking BNPL industry news, we thought it timely to share a mountain of the best, most extensive BNPL research data available.

To ensure these BNPL statistics are most useful, we break them into key categories: global, by country, US, UK, EU markets, consumer, B2B, specific company, and other BNPL research.

We also include links to the data sources to acknowledge the originators of this invaluable BNPL research. We’ll keep this list updated frequently, so bookmark it and come back often for the latest buy now pay later industry research data. Got BNPL research or data to share? Send an email to info@bnplreport.com, and our editors will verify and update or add your research to the list.

Global BNPL research data

• in 2022, there were 360 million BNPL users worldwide, reaching 900 million by 2027 Juniper Research
• consumer spending using BNPL platforms will reach $437 billion globally in 2027; rising +291% from $112 billion in 2022  Juniper Research
• by 2030, the BNPL market is forecast to be worth an impressive $3.27 trillion
• 5% of 2022 global e-commerce transactions were BNPL valued at an estimated $300 billion; 6% of transactions projected for 2026 with CAGR of 16% FIS/WorldPay
• percent of 2022 e-commerce transactions as BNPL by region: EU (10%), US-Canada (5%), Asia-Pacific (5%), Middle East-Africa (4%), Latin America (1%) FIS/WorldPay
• value of 2022 BNPL e-commerce transactions by region: EU ($105.4 billion), Asia-Pacific ($100 billion), US-Canada ($52.7 billion), Middle East-Africa ($4.16 billion), Latin America ($1.59 billion) FIS/WorldPay
• BNPL is set to grow to a €300 billion industry in Europe by 2025, 11% of e-commerce; Eastern & Central Europe is at 5%-7% currently Tech.eu
• Desktop & mobile traffic to the 14 biggest BNPL providers grew 21.1% CAGR between 2020-2022 from 236.8M visits in 2022 to 420.8M in 2022 SimilarWeb
• Monthly active users for the top six BNPL providers in Jan 2022 was 11.2m – 200% growth from 2021. SimilarWeb

US BNPL research stats

• most popular US BNPL services by users in 2023: Afterpay (50%), Klarna (45%), Affirm (41%), PayPal Pay-in-4 or PayPal Credit (35%), Sezzle (11%), Zip/QuadPay (11%), FuturePay (4%), Splitit (2%) Motley Fool-Ascent
• 35% of US consumers used BNPL (2023); down from 50% in 2022 and 56% in 2021 Motley Fool-Ascent
• 50% of US consumers used BNPL (2022) Motley Fool-Ascent
• 26% of US BNPL users had a late or missed payment (2023), down from 33% in 2022 Motley Fool-Ascent
• 33% of US BNPL users made a late payment or incurred a late fee (2022); 47% of BNPL users say they are at least somewhat likely to make a late payment within the next year Motley Fool-Ascent
• 62% of US users think BNPL could replace their credit cards, though only 35% believe that will happen ; 38% say BNPL will not replace their credit cards (2023) Motley Fool-Ascent
• 67% of US users think BNPL could replace their credit cards, though only about a third want that to happen (2022) Motley Fool-Ascent
• 38% use BNPL once a month or more Motley Fool-Ascent
• frequency of use by US BNPL users: once a year or less (22%), every 6 months (17%), once every 3 months (23%), monthly (19%), weekly (12%), more than once a week (7%)Motley Fool-Ascent
• why US users use BNPL: to make a purchase they couldn’t otherwise afford (45%), avoid credit card interest (37%), borrow without a credit check (21%), personal data & information safer (20%), can’t get approval for a credit card (14%), don’t like to use credit cards (13%), credit cards maxed out (13%), other reasons (6%), and don’t have a bank account (5%) Motley Fool-Ascent 
• most popular purchases by US BNPL consumers: electronics (47%), clothing and fashion (43%), furniture or appliances (31%), personal care or cosmetics (28%), household essentials (27%), groceries (24%), books, music, movies, games (22%), fitness equipment (15%), and other (8%) Motley Fool-Ascent 
• average US BNPL monthly payment: $50 or less (25%), $51-$100 (26%), $101-$250 (21%), $251-$500 (18%), $501-$1,000 (8%), over $1,000 (4%) Motley Fool-Ascent  
• 30% of US BNPL users trust providers more than their bank Motley Fool-Ascent
• 60% have tried BNPL; 46% are paying a BNPL service currently; 66% believe BNPL is “financially risky” (2001) C+R Research
• average number of items users say they are currently paying for in instalments in 2021 was 3.8; total debt owed on average is $883; average amount of last item purchased is $689 (2021) C+R Research
• top reasons consumers used BNPL (2021): ease of payment (45%), more flexibility (44%), lower interest (36%), easy approval (32%), credit cards maxed (33%), no interest (22%), low credit card limit (22%) C+R Research
• heaviest users of BNPL services in the US in 2022 come from households with an average income above $75,000. Consumers from households with an average income of less than $40,000 use BNPL services lightly Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia
• 53.2% of BNPL users (people with experience using the product) said they were likely to use it again in the future Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia
• US BNPL users are more likely to be non-White (30%); black (13.1%); younger, with 41.6% under 36 years old; Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia
• frequency of use in the past 12 months (2022): 1-3 times (53.2%), 4-6 times (30.2%), monthly or more (16.6%) Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia
• reasons for using BNPL: convenience (52.6%), size of purchase (46.2%), better manage finances (43.8%), inability to get credit (13.6%), preferred method of payment (11.5%) Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia
• payment failure in past 12 months: made full payments on time (89.3%), missed at least one payment but paid in full (8.2%), not able to meet all payments (2.3%); heavy users, younger users, and those earning under $40,000 had the most difficult time repaying Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia
• US BNPL user profiles (2023): Gen Z (65%), Millennials (55%), Gen X (35%), Boomers (24%) LendingTree
• Mar 2023 data: 46% used BNPL (UP 3% FROM 2022); 40% of US BNPL users made a late payment; 27% used it as a bridge to their next paycheck; 21% bought groceries; 51% regretted using BNPL; LendingTree
• BNPL purchases (Mar 2023): clothing, shoes, accessories (46%), home decor, appliances, furniture (34%), technology devices (27%), body, beauty, hair products (26%), groceries (21%), events, concerts, games (18%), sports or fitness (16 %), toys (13%), dining out (13%), travel (11%), other (5%) LendingTree
• in 2023, 52% of Americans used BNPL Jusst
• 40% of US BNPL purchasers requested a refund and/or a chargeback in the past 12 months Jusst

Merchant BNPL data

• offering a BNPL payment option to consumers increases average order value by an average of 45% Juniper Research
• 8% of Canadian merchants accept BNPL and 48% of merchants interested in offering it Payments Canada
• Bad debts as a percentage of total outstanding debt for credit cards was 5.30% compared to an estimated 9.55% for BNPL providers Fraugster
• Average BNPL order value €146 (2022) Fraugster
• Half of UK businesses had an outstanding BNPL debt between £10,000 and £75,000 owed by customers each month Marqeta
• Nearly 30% businesses said they were unaware ofBNPL for businesses; 25% of respondents thought BNPL wasn’t for businesses like theirs and 25% felt it was too risky Marqeta
• In 2023, 56% of US BNPL users said they had no problem with their purchases in the past 12 months, a significant improvement from 32% in 2022 Jusst
• In 2023, 17% of US BNPL users requested a refund because of a problem purchase compared with 43% in 2022 Jusst

Other Country BNPL research

• India BNPL users are predicted to grow from 25 million in 2022 to 116 million by 2027 Juniper Research
• percent of 2022 e-commerce transactions as BNPL by EU country: Sweden (24%), Germany (23%), Norway (18%), Belgium (14%), Netherlands (14%), Finland (13%), Denmark (12%), UK (8%), Italy (6%), France (5%), Ireland (4%), Spain (3%), Poland (2%), Turkey (<1%) FIS/WorldPay 
• value of 2022 e-commerce transactions as BNPL by EU country: UK ($22.84 billion), Germany ($12.12 billion), Sweden ($9.51 billion), France ($7.9 billion),  Italy ($6.53 billion), Netherlands ($5.02 billion), Finland ($2.28 billion),  Norway ($1.92 billion), Denmark ($1.03 billion), Ireland ($998.2 million), Spain ($576 million), Poland ($499.4 million), Belgium ($112 million) BNPL Report research
• percent of 2022 e-commerce transactions as BNPL by Asia-Pacific country: Australia (14%), New Zealand (10%), Singapore (5%), China (4%), India (4%), Malaysia (4%), Indonesia (4%), Japan (3%), Philippines (2%), Hong Kong (1%), Taiwan (1%), Thailand (1%), Vietnam (1%), South Korea (<1%) FIS/WorldPay 
• value of 2022 e-commerce transactions as BNPL by Asia-Pacific country: China ($91 billion), Australia ($7 billion), Japan ($5.82 billion), India ($3.4 billion), Singapore ($2.5 billion), Indonesia ($1.4 billion), Thailand ($760 million), New Zealand ($700 million), Taiwan ($470 million), Malaysia ($360 million),), Hong Kong ($260 million), Philippines ($200 million), Vietnam ($180 million) FIS/WorldPay 
• percent of 2022 e-commerce transactions as BNPL by Middle East/African country: Nigeria (3%), UAE (3%), Saudi Arabia (1%), South Africa (1%) FIS/WorldPay 

UK Consumer BNPL research data

• Nearly a fifth (18%) of 18–34-year-old UK BNPL users have had their credit score impacted due to missed BNPL payments Barclays
• 24% of UK BNPL users have missed a payment, 27% every few months, 11% every six months Forbes Advisor
• The average UK BNPL user is paying off £293 ($375) in BNPL loans, and almost half (47%) have had loans from different BNPL providers at the same time Barclays
• UK consumers used BNPL 3.9 times per month Forbes Advisor
• More than one-third (35%) of UK BNPL users had insufficient funds when they used instalment payments Barclays
• most popular UK BNPL services (2021): Klarna (36%), Clearpay (25%), Openpay (8%), Laybuy (7%), Zilch (7%), Payl8r (4%) and Zip (6%) Finder.com
• reasons for UK BNPL purchases: electronics (31%), mid-range fashion/clothes/accessories (33%), health & wellness (28%), luxury fashion/clothes/accessories (24%),  home improvement & appliances (24%), home decor (20%), handbags (18%), jewelry (17%), beauty & cosmetics (17%),  Forbes Advisor
• why UK shoppers use BNPL: helps managing payments (38%), avoid interest (33%), couldn’t otherwise afford (32%), try before you buy (27%), refused a credit card (26%) Forbes Advisor
• 43% of European business leaders turned to BNPL to cover a business expense in the past three months Marqeta
• 12% use BNPL at least once a week; 16% use BNPL in-store when shopping; 14% on everyday shopping including food and drink; 49% said they can make more expensive purchases due to BNPL; 59% spend between £50 and £300; 15% say ensuring they meet a BNPL payment deadline means they’ve missed another important bill; and 16% miss BNPL payments regularly. Money Expert
• In 2023, 58% of Brits used BNPL Jusst
• 40% of US BNPL purchasers requested a refund and/or a chargeback in the past 12 months Jusst
• In 2023, 42% of UK BNPL users had no problem with a purchase compared with 61 % in 2022 Jusst
• In 2023, 24% of Brits missed a BNPL payment compared with 10% in 2022 Jusst

EU BNPL data

• 57% of EU consumers have used BNPL (2023); country usage – Sweden (67%), Italy (67%), Romania & Poland (64%), UK (63%), Spain (62%), Germany (60%), Netherlands (57%), Switzerland (55%), France (52%), Austria & Czech Republic (45%), Portugal (42%) Kearney  
• 65% of EU consumers used BNPL in-store with the highest use in-store in  Romania (79%) and Spain (78%)  Kearney
• 80% of EU BNPL users spend up to €250 per purchase (2023): users in countries spending up to €500 include France (14%), Switzerland (12%), Italy (11%); users in countries spending less than €50 include Czech Republic (43%), Poland (3%), Romania (32%) Kearney
• frequency of BNPL use (2023): 73% use BNPL up to five times per year, 27% use it six times or more; highest usage is Switzerland (41%) and Sweden (36%) Kearney
• 25% of BNPL purchases are provided by a bank or bank card; countries with the highest bank card links include Germany (54%), Spain and France (36%) Kearney
• 6% of users missed at least one payment with Italy highest (13%) some

Company BNPL stats

• biggest BNPL companies by sales (GMV, USD): Klarna ($19.65B, +13%), Afterpay ($19.7B), Affirm ($15.B, +87%), Zip ($5.76B, +51%), LatitudePay ($5.36B, +8%), Humm Group ($2.5B), Openpay ($278.8M, +49%)  BNPLReport research  
• major BNPL player bad debt:  Afterpay (13.9%), Zip (9.7%), Klarna (8.1%) and Affirm (6.5%); credit cards is around 2.5% Fraugster
• best Australian BNPL providers (2003): PayPal in 4 (94%), Afterpay (88%), Zip (86%), LayBuy (84%), Openpay (82%), Klarna (82%), Humm (69%), Bundll (67%), and Latitude (63%) Finder (AUS)
• 11 biggest BNPL companies by market cap (June 2023): Mastercard (US, $329B), PayPal (US, $78B), Block/Afterpay (US, $38B), Grab (SG, $11B), Klarna (SE, $7B), Monzo (UK, $4B), Affirm (US, $3 B), LatitudePay (NZ, $2B), Openpay (AU, $30M), Zip (AU, $28M) Yahoo Finance
• 6 largest BNPL companies by global website traffic (2023): Afterpay, Klarna, Affirm, Zip, Sezzle, PerPay SimilarWeb
• largest BNPL Asian companies by number of merchants: GoJekPayLater (ID, 900K), Paidy (JP, 700K), Akulaku (ID, 90K), Pace Pay (SG, 5K), ShopBack PayLater (SG, 4K), Kredivo (4K), Atome (SG, 3K), BillEase (PH, 3K), Pace Pay (SG, 5K), Indodana (ID, 1K), Cashao (1K), Fundiin (VN, 300), Mintpay (LK, 160) BNPLReport research
• popular US BNPL providers (2021): PayPal Credit (57%), Afterpay (29%), Affirm (28%), Klarna (23%), ZipPay (19%), QuadPay (15%), Uplift (13%), Perpay (11%), Sezzle (8%), Zebit (6%), Splitit (6%), other (6%) C+R Research
• Klarna: global merchants (500K+), 2021 revenue $1.42B (+32%), US users (8M+), US app downloads (30M+), 100+ top US retailers Techcrunch

Hope you find this BNPL mountain of data useful! Check back for frequent updates as new data becomes available.

Our BNPL Research page has links to other BNPL stats from a variety of authoritative sources.

Speaking of authoritative BNPL data, check out the US-Canada BNPL Intelligence Report for profiles of 93 leading companies, their consumer and merchant offers, insight into best practices and business models and tips for merchants on choosing the perfect BNPL partner.