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This page presents Amazon.com, Inc.’s operating expenses breakdown, consisting of several expense categories such as cost of sales, fulfillment, technology and infrastructure, sales and marketing, and so on.
Let’s dive in!
For other statistics of Amazon.com, Inc., you may find more information on this page: Amazon key stats.
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Table Of Contents
Insight & Summary of Observed Trends
Z1. Insight & Summary of Amazon’s Operating Expenses Breakdown Analysis
Operating Expense Results
A1. Operating expense breakdown by category
A2. Operating expense mix by category
A3. Operating expense growth by category
A4. Operating expense as % of revenue
Reference, Credits, and Disclosure
S1. References and Credits
S2. Disclosure
Insight & Summary of Amazon’s Operating Expenses Breakdown Analysis
Amazon’s operating expenses have grown substantially in absolute terms across every category over the past decade, but the more consequential story is how the composition of that spending has shifted — cost discipline has genuinely improved at the aggregate level even as the underlying mix has moved decisively toward technology and infrastructure investment.
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Total Operating Expenses as a Percentage of Revenue: A Genuinely Positive, Sustained Improvement Amazon has become meaningfully more efficient at converting revenue into operating leverage over the past decade — Total Operating Expenses as % of Revenue fell from 97.9% (2015) to 88.8% (2025), a nearly nine-percentage-point improvement, with the decline particularly pronounced in the most recent three years (93.6% in 2023, down to 88.8% by 2025). This is the single most important structural finding in the dataset: Amazon’s cost base has been growing more slowly than its revenue base for several consecutive years.
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Cost of Sales: The Dominant Category, Steadily Shrinking as a Share of Both Expenses and Revenue Cost of Sales remains by far the largest expense category, but its relative weight has declined substantially on two separate measures. Its mix share of Total Operating Expenses fell from 68.4% (2015) to 56.0% (2025), and Cost of Sales as % of Revenue fell even more sharply, from 67.0% (2015) to just 49.7% (2025) — the largest percentage-point improvement of any category in the entire dataset. This decline has been remarkably consistent and directional, occurring in nine of the ten year-over-year comparisons, with no reversal at any point.
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Technology and Infrastructure: The Fastest-Growing Category, Now Rivaling Fulfillment in Scale Technology and Infrastructure has grown from a 12.0% mix share (2015) to 17.0% (2025) — overtaking its earlier position and now nearly matching Fulfillment as Amazon’s second-largest expense category. Its growth has also been notably volatile in the most recent years: 16.9% (2023), a sharp deceleration to just 3.4% (2024), then a striking reacceleration to 22.6% (2025) — the single largest year-over-year jump of any category in 2023-2025, and worth watching given this is the category most closely tied to AWS infrastructure and AI-related capital investment.
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Fulfillment: Consistent Mix-Share Growth, With a Notably Stable Growth Rate Fulfillment’s mix share grew steadily from 12.8% (2015) to 17.1% (2025), and its growth rate has been comparatively smoother than Technology and Infrastructure’s — 7.5%, 8.7%, and 10.7% in 2023-2025, a gradual acceleration rather than a volatile swing. Fulfillment as % of Revenue has stayed within a fairly narrow 15.2%-16.1% range over the past four years, suggesting this cost category has reached a more mature, predictable relationship with sales volume than some of the other line items.
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General and Administrative: The Only Category With Sustained Recent Declines General and Administrative is the standout exception to Amazon’s generally expense-growing categories — it posted negative growth in three consecutive years (-0.6% in 2023, -3.9% in 2024, -1.6% in 2025), the only category with more than one consecutive year of decline in the entire dataset. Its mix share has fallen from a peak of 2.4% (2022) to just 1.8% (2025), and as % of Revenue it has declined from 2.3% (2022) to 1.6% (2025) — a genuine, sustained cost discipline trend in this specific category, distinct from the revenue-driven efficiency gains seen elsewhere.
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Structural Takeaway: Amazon’s operating expense structure has shifted in two distinct ways simultaneously: overall cost efficiency has genuinely improved (Total Operating Expenses as % of Revenue down nearly nine points since 2015), while the internal composition has moved away from Cost of Sales and toward Technology and Infrastructure, which is now growing both in absolute terms and as a share of the expense base. Given Technology and Infrastructure’s 22.6% growth in 2025 — its largest jump in years — and General and Administrative’s three-year streak of cost discipline pulling in the opposite direction, the key trend to monitor going forward is whether continued technology investment growth outpaces the operating leverage gains being achieved elsewhere, which would determine whether Total Operating Expenses as % of Revenue continues its multi-year improvement or begins to plateau.
The table below combines all key Amazon.com’s operating expenses breakdown metrics into a single view for the latest three fiscal years.
Amazon.com’s Operating Expenses Breakdown — Averages (FY2023–FY2025)
| Metric | 3-Year Average (FY2023–FY2025) |
|---|---|
| Operating Expense Breakdown by Category | |
| Cost of Sales | $329,147M |
| Fulfillment | $99,399M |
| Technology and Infrastructure | $94,229M |
| Sales and Marketing | $45,135M |
| General and Administrative | $11,449M |
| Other Operating Expense (or Income), Net | $2,056M |
| Total Operating Expenses | $581,416M |
| Operating Expense Mix by Category | |
| Cost of Sales | 56.6% |
| Fulfillment | 17.1% |
| Technology and Infrastructure | 16.2% |
| Sales and Marketing | 7.8% |
| General and Administrative | 2.0% |
| Other Operating Expense (or Income), Net | 0.3% |
| Total Operating Expenses | 100.0% |
| Operating Expense Growth by Category | |
| Total Revenue | 11.7% |
| Cost of Sales | 7.3% |
| Fulfillment | 9.0% |
| Technology and Infrastructure | 14.3% |
| Sales and Marketing | 3.8% |
| General and Administrative | -2.0% |
| Other Operating Expense (or Income), Net | n.a. |
| Total Operating Expenses | 8.3% |
| Operating Expense as % of Revenue | |
| Total Revenue | $643,223M |
| Cost of Sales to Revenue | 51.3% |
| Fulfillment to Revenue | 15.5% |
| Technology and Infrastructure to Revenue | 14.6% |
| Sales and Marketing to Revenue | 7.1% |
| General and Administrative to Revenue | 1.8% |
| Other Operating Expense (or Income), Net to Revenue | 0.3% |
| Total Operating Expenses to Revenue | 90.5% |
Averages cover FY2023–FY2025. Currency figures rounded to nearest whole unit. Mix, growth, and ratio rounded to one decimal place. “Other Operating Expense (or Income), Net” YoY Growth is n.a. for all years in the source data, as the line item crosses zero and a percentage growth rate is not meaningful.
Operating expense breakdown by category
View data as table
Amazon.com Operating Expenses Breakdown by Category — All Metrics by Fiscal Year
| Fiscal Year | Cost of Sales | Fulfillment | Technology and Infrastructure | Sales and Marketing | General and Administrative | Other Operating Expense (or Income), Net | Total Operating Expenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | $71,651M | $13,410M | $12,540M | $5,254M | $1,747M | $171M | $104,773M |
| 2016 | $88,265M | $17,619M | $16,085M | $7,233M | $2,432M | $167M | $131,801M |
| 2017 | $111,934M | $25,249M | $22,620M | $10,069M | $3,674M | $214M | $173,760M |
| 2018 | $139,156M | $34,027M | $28,837M | $13,814M | $4,336M | $296M | $220,466M |
| 2019 | $165,536M | $40,232M | $35,931M | $18,878M | $5,203M | $201M | $265,981M |
| 2020 | $233,307M | $58,517M | $42,740M | $22,008M | $6,668M | -$75M | $363,165M |
| 2021 | $272,344M | $75,111M | $56,052M | $32,551M | $8,823M | $62M | $444,943M |
| 2022 | $288,831M | $84,299M | $73,213M | $42,238M | $11,891M | $1,263M | $501,735M |
| 2023 | $304,739M | $90,619M | $85,622M | $44,370M | $11,816M | $767M | $537,933M |
| 2024 | $326,288M | $98,505M | $88,544M | $43,907M | $11,359M | $763M | $569,366M |
| 2025 | $356,414M | $109,074M | $108,521M | $47,129M | $11,172M | $4,639M | $636,949M |
Operating Expense Breakdown by Category — Averages (FY2023–FY2025)
| Metric | 3-Year Average (FY2023–FY2025) |
|---|---|
| Cost of Sales | $329,147M |
| Fulfillment | $99,399M |
| Technology and Infrastructure | $94,229M |
| Sales and Marketing | $45,135M |
| General and Administrative | $11,449M |
| Other Operating Expense (or Income), Net | $2,056M |
| Total Operating Expenses | $581,416M |
Averages cover FY2023–FY2025. Currency figures rounded to nearest whole unit. Mix, growth, and ratio rounded to one decimal place. “Other Operating Expense (or Income), Net” YoY Growth is n.a. for all years in the source data, as the line item crosses zero and a percentage growth rate is not meaningful.
Operating expense mix by category
View data as table
Amazon.com Operating Expenses Mix by Category — All Metrics by Fiscal Year
| Fiscal Year | Cost of Sales | Fulfillment | Technology and Infrastructure | Sales and Marketing | General and Administrative | Other Operating Expense (or Income), Net |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 68.4% | 12.8% | 12.0% | 5.0% | 1.7% | 0.2% |
| 2016 | 67.0% | 13.4% | 12.2% | 5.5% | 1.8% | 0.1% |
| 2017 | 64.4% | 14.5% | 13.0% | 5.8% | 2.1% | 0.1% |
| 2018 | 63.1% | 15.4% | 13.1% | 6.3% | 2.0% | 0.1% |
| 2019 | 62.2% | 15.1% | 13.5% | 7.1% | 2.0% | 0.1% |
| 2020 | 64.2% | 16.1% | 11.8% | 6.1% | 1.8% | 0.0% |
| 2021 | 61.2% | 16.9% | 12.6% | 7.3% | 2.0% | 0.0% |
| 2022 | 57.6% | 16.8% | 14.6% | 8.4% | 2.4% | 0.3% |
| 2023 | 56.6% | 16.8% | 15.9% | 8.2% | 2.2% | 0.1% |
| 2024 | 57.3% | 17.3% | 15.6% | 7.7% | 2.0% | 0.1% |
| 2025 | 56.0% | 17.1% | 17.0% | 7.4% | 1.8% | 0.7% |
Operating Expense Mix by Category — Averages (FY2023–FY2025)
| Metric | 3-Year Average (FY2023–FY2025) |
|---|---|
| Cost of Sales | 56.6% |
| Fulfillment | 17.1% |
| Technology and Infrastructure | 16.2% |
| Sales and Marketing | 7.8% |
| General and Administrative | 2.0% |
| Other Operating Expense (or Income), Net | 0.3% |
| Total Operating Expenses | 100.0% |
Averages cover FY2023–FY2025. Currency figures rounded to nearest whole unit. Mix, growth, and ratio rounded to one decimal place. “Other Operating Expense (or Income), Net” YoY Growth is n.a. for all years in the source data, as the line item crosses zero and a percentage growth rate is not meaningful.
Operating expense growth by category
View data as table
Amazon.com Operating Expenses Growth by Category — All Metrics by Fiscal Year
| Fiscal Year | Total Revenue | Cost of Sales | Fulfillment | Technology and Infrastructure | Sales and Marketing | General and Administrative | Total Operating Expenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 27.1% | 23.2% | 31.4% | 28.3% | 37.7% | 39.2% | 25.8% |
| 2017 | 30.8% | 26.8% | 43.3% | 40.6% | 39.2% | 51.1% | 31.8% |
| 2018 | 30.9% | 24.3% | 34.8% | 27.5% | 37.2% | 18.0% | 26.9% |
| 2019 | 20.5% | 19.0% | 18.2% | 24.6% | 36.7% | 20.0% | 20.6% |
| 2020 | 37.6% | 40.9% | 45.4% | 19.0% | 16.6% | 28.2% | 36.5% |
| 2021 | 21.7% | 16.7% | 28.4% | 31.1% | 47.9% | 32.3% | 22.5% |
| 2022 | 9.4% | 6.1% | 12.2% | 30.6% | 29.8% | 34.8% | 12.8% |
| 2023 | 11.8% | 5.5% | 7.5% | 16.9% | 5.0% | -0.6% | 7.2% |
| 2024 | 11.0% | 7.1% | 8.7% | 3.4% | -1.0% | -3.9% | 5.8% |
| 2025 | 12.4% | 9.2% | 10.7% | 22.6% | 7.3% | -1.6% | 11.9% |
Operating Expense Growth by Category — Averages (FY2023–FY2025)
| Metric | 3-Year Average (FY2023–FY2025) |
|---|---|
| Total Revenue | 11.7% |
| Cost of Sales | 7.3% |
| Fulfillment | 9.0% |
| Technology and Infrastructure | 14.3% |
| Sales and Marketing | 3.8% |
| General and Administrative | -2.0% |
| Other Operating Expense (or Income), Net | n.a. |
| Total Operating Expenses | 8.3% |
Averages cover FY2023–FY2025. Currency figures rounded to nearest whole unit. Mix, growth, and ratio rounded to one decimal place. “Other Operating Expense (or Income), Net” YoY Growth is n.a. for all years in the source data, as the line item crosses zero and a percentage growth rate is not meaningful.
Operating expense as % of revenue
View data as table
Amazon.com Operating Expenses as % of Revenue — All Metrics by Fiscal Year
| Fiscal Year | Total Revenue | Cost of Sales to Revenue | Fulfillment to Revenue | Technology and Infrastructure to Revenue | Sales and Marketing to Revenue | General and Administrative to Revenue | Other Operating Expense (or Income), Net to Revenue | Total Operating Expenses to Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | $107,006M | 67.0% | 12.5% | 11.7% | 4.9% | 1.6% | 0.2% | 97.9% |
| 2016 | $135,987M | 64.9% | 13.0% | 11.8% | 5.3% | 1.8% | 0.1% | 96.9% |
| 2017 | $177,866M | 62.9% | 14.2% | 12.7% | 5.7% | 2.1% | 0.1% | 97.7% |
| 2018 | $232,887M | 59.8% | 14.6% | 12.4% | 5.9% | 1.9% | 0.1% | 94.7% |
| 2019 | $280,522M | 59.0% | 14.3% | 12.8% | 6.7% | 1.9% | 0.1% | 94.8% |
| 2020 | $386,064M | 60.4% | 15.2% | 11.1% | 5.7% | 1.7% | 0.0% | 94.1% |
| 2021 | $469,822M | 58.0% | 16.0% | 11.9% | 6.9% | 1.9% | 0.0% | 94.7% |
| 2022 | $513,983M | 56.2% | 16.4% | 14.2% | 8.2% | 2.3% | 0.2% | 97.6% |
| 2023 | $574,785M | 53.0% | 15.8% | 14.9% | 7.7% | 2.1% | 0.1% | 93.6% |
| 2024 | $637,959M | 51.1% | 15.4% | 13.9% | 6.9% | 1.8% | 0.1% | 89.2% |
| 2025 | $716,924M | 49.7% | 15.2% | 15.1% | 6.6% | 1.6% | 0.6% | 88.8% |
Operating Expense as % of Revenue — Averages (FY2023–FY2025)
| Metric | 3-Year Average (FY2023–FY2025) |
|---|---|
| Total Revenue | $643,223M |
| Cost of Sales to Revenue | 51.3% |
| Fulfillment to Revenue | 15.5% |
| Technology and Infrastructure to Revenue | 14.6% |
| Sales and Marketing to Revenue | 7.1% |
| General and Administrative to Revenue | 1.8% |
| Other Operating Expense (or Income), Net to Revenue | 0.3% |
| Total Operating Expenses to Revenue | 90.5% |
Averages cover FY2023–FY2025. Currency figures rounded to nearest whole unit. Mix, growth, and ratio rounded to one decimal place. “Other Operating Expense (or Income), Net” YoY Growth is n.a. for all years in the source data, as the line item crosses zero and a percentage growth rate is not meaningful.
References and Credits
1. All financial figures presented were obtained and referenced from Amazon.com, Inc.’s quarterly and annual reports published on the company’s investor relations page: Amazon.com, Inc. Investor Relations.
2. Pexels Images.
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