Southeast Asia's Digital Economy Contributed 3.7% to GDP

Research conducted by Google, Temasek, and Bain & Company projects that the digital economy (Gross Merchandise Value/GMV) in six Southeast Asian countries (ASEAN 6) will reach US$100 billion by the end of 2019. This figure represents a 213 percent surge, or an average annual growth of 42 percent, from US$32 billion in 2015.

The ASEAN 6 digital economy contributed only 1.3 percent to the GDP in 2015, but this is projected to grow to 3.7 percent by the end of 2019 and further to 8.5 percent by 2025. This growth will help narrow the gap with the United States' digital economy, which reached 6.5 percent of its GDP in 2016.

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The rapid growth of e-commerce and internet-based transportation services in Southeast Asia is driving the expansion of the digital economy market share.

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