Jumia recorded an 82% jump in international sales in the fourth quarter of 2025, driven largely by its expanding China-focused sourcing strategy, as the African e-commerce firm pushes towards profitability by 2027.
The surge, disclosed in the company’s latest financial results, highlights a strategic pivot that is reshaping Jumia’s business model after more than a decade of sustained losses. Rather than targeting Africa’s small aspirational middle class, the company is now aligning its operations with lower-middle-income consumers who make up the bulk of the continent’s population.
This repositioning centres on affordability and volume. By tapping into Chinese supply chains, Jumia is prioritising low-cost products that sell faster, increase order frequency, and improve unit economics, a move the company believes offers a clearer route to sustainable profits than premium retail.
Brandspur Banking News Desk reports that the impact of this strategy is already evident across Jumia’s marketplace. By September 2025, the platform hosted about 24,000 China-based sellers, with roughly 2.2 million China-sourced products stored in warehouses across Africa. Chinese merchants now dominate Jumia’s international seller base, accounting for the majority of its more than 25,000 global partners.
Sales momentum from China accelerated throughout the year. In the third quarter of 2025, items sold from China rose 55% year-on-year. That growth strengthened further in the fourth quarter, as overall international item sales climbed 82% compared to the same period in 2024. Jumia reinforced its sourcing pipeline by opening a new operational office in Yiwu, one of China’s largest wholesale hubs.
For the full year 2025, Jumia’s revenue increased by 13% to $188.9 million, while gross merchandise value grew by 13.59% to $818.6 million. Despite the gains, operating losses declined by only 4.24%, underscoring the continued pressure on margins and the fragility of its profitability timeline.
Customer activity also showed strong momentum. Orders rose 32% year-on-year, while the number of active customers purchasing physical goods increased by 26% in the fourth quarter. Nigeria remained a standout market, recording a 33% rise in orders and a 50% increase in GMV over the same period.
Jumia’s chief executive officer, Francis Dufay, said the company closed 2025 with improved engagement and clearer progress towards profitability, citing stronger platform performance and operational discipline.
Looking ahead, Jumia plans to focus in 2026 on deepening engagement in its existing markets, with emphasis on product availability, pricing, and service reliability. The company also expects a more stable macroeconomic environment and improving local currencies to support both consumers and merchants.
The profitability drive is also reshaping Jumia’s geographic footprint. In February 2026, the company exited Algeria, following earlier withdrawals from South Africa and Tunisia in 2024. Jumia is now active in just eight countries.
Jumia is targeting break-even and positive cash flow in the fourth quarter of 2026, with full-year profitability projected for 2027, a goal now closely tied to how effectively its China-driven supply model can translate into mass-market demand across Africa.
