diff --git a/packages/gatsby-plugin-google-analytics/README.md b/packages/gatsby-plugin-google-analytics/README.md
index 481f6b87b79a3..204cd5b914d24 100644
--- a/packages/gatsby-plugin-google-analytics/README.md
+++ b/packages/gatsby-plugin-google-analytics/README.md
@@ -33,6 +33,8 @@ module.exports = {
         experimentId: "YOUR_GOOGLE_EXPERIMENT_ID",
         // Set Variation ID. 0 for original 1,2,3....
         variationId: "YOUR_GOOGLE_OPTIMIZE_VARIATION_ID",
+        // Defers execution of google analytics script after page load
+        defer: false,
         // Any additional optional fields
         sampleRate: 5,
         siteSpeedSampleRate: 10,
diff --git a/packages/gatsby-plugin-google-analytics/src/__tests__/gatsby-ssr.js b/packages/gatsby-plugin-google-analytics/src/__tests__/gatsby-ssr.js
index 2f772b897f532..e97a649980078 100644
--- a/packages/gatsby-plugin-google-analytics/src/__tests__/gatsby-ssr.js
+++ b/packages/gatsby-plugin-google-analytics/src/__tests__/gatsby-ssr.js
@@ -172,6 +172,24 @@ describe(`gatsby-plugin-google-analytics`, () => {
           const result = JSON.stringify(setPostBodyComponents.mock.calls[0][0])
           expect(result).not.toContain(`allowAdFeatures`)
         })
+
+        it(`should defer script after the site render when set`, () => {
+          const { setPostBodyComponents } = setup({
+            defer: true,
+          })
+
+          const result = JSON.stringify(setPostBodyComponents.mock.calls[0][0])
+          expect(result).toContain(`defer=1;`)
+          expect(result).not.toContain(`async=1;`)
+        })
+
+        it(`should not defer script after the site render`, () => {
+          const { setPostBodyComponents } = setup({})
+
+          const result = JSON.stringify(setPostBodyComponents.mock.calls[0][0])
+          expect(result).not.toContain(`defer=1;`)
+          expect(result).toContain(`async=1;`)
+        })
       })
     })
   })
diff --git a/packages/gatsby-plugin-google-analytics/src/gatsby-ssr.js b/packages/gatsby-plugin-google-analytics/src/gatsby-ssr.js
index 2ef6737009e88..3524f7b6aa80f 100644
--- a/packages/gatsby-plugin-google-analytics/src/gatsby-ssr.js
+++ b/packages/gatsby-plugin-google-analytics/src/gatsby-ssr.js
@@ -83,7 +83,9 @@ export const onRenderBody = (
   }) {
     (function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i['GoogleAnalyticsObject']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){
     (i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),
-    m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)
+    m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];${
+      pluginOptions.defer ? `a.defer=1;` : `a.async=1;`
+    }a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)
     })(window,document,'script','https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js','ga');
   }
   if (typeof ga === "function") {