Overview

In August 2025 Amazon’s marketplace listed roughly 9.7 million registered seller accounts, yet only about 1.9 million of those accounts posted a product or fulfilled an order during the month. The gap between total registrations and active participants underscores a highly saturated environment where most sellers are dormant, a condition that directly shapes competition, advertising spend, and inventory decisions for anyone doing business on the platform.

Key Points

• Total registrations — By the end of August 2025 the Amazon seller registry contained close to 9.7 million unique accounts.
• Active sellers — Only around 1.9 million sellers logged at least one inventory change or sale in that month, representing roughly 20 % of the overall pool.
• Growth disparity — The total seller base grew about 5 % year‑over‑year, while the subset of active sellers expanded just 2 %, widening the gap between sign‑ups and sustained commerce.
• Category concentration — Electronics, home‑goods, and private‑label beauty together account for nearly 45 % of active listings, intensifying rivalry in those verticals.
• Geographic distribution — The United States, United Kingdom and Germany together contribute 60 % of active sellers; emerging markets such as India and Brazil make up the remaining 40 %.
• SKU scale — The average active seller manages roughly 120 SKUs, while the top decile of sellers each operate more than 1,500 SKUs, creating a pronounced tiered structure.

How Amazon Calculates Seller Activity

1. Account creation — When a user completes the Seller Central enrollment, Amazon assigns a unique identifier and adds the profile to the global count. Example: An entrepreneur in Nairobi finishes registration on July 30, 2025, and is counted toward the 9.7 million total.
2. Inventory upload — Adding at least one product listing or updating stock levels flags the account as “active” for that calendar month. Example: The Nairobi seller lists a reusable water bottle on August 5, moving the account into the active category.