Southeast Asia! Shining star in the digital economy

Since the first computer was created in 1946, computers began to be popularized in 1982, and smart phones were widely used in 2000. Since then, the world has opened the era of digital mobility. Not only food, clothing, housing and transportation, but also economic activities have been changed. While countries all over the world are investing resources to create a more effective and complete digital economy environment, Southeast Asia may surpass other countries to become a new star in the future digital economy.Why Southeast Asia perform so promising?

Southeast Asia's digital economy tripled in 6 years

 At the end of 2019, the Southeast Asia Digital Economy Report published by Google, Temasek and Bain pointed out that the digital economy in the region has reached US$100 billion in 2019, and its Internet economy has grown at a rate of about 20-30%, some of which are the growth rate of Vietnam. It is as high as 40%. It is estimated that in 2025, the scale of Southeast Asia's digital economy will triple to US$300 billion. Digital financial services also growing rapidly. It is estimated that in 5 years, 1/2 of the consumption in Southeast Asia will come from digital payments.

 Why Southeast Asia perform so promising?

 1. Soaring Mobile Internet users

Southeast Asia is the most active region in the world for mobile Internet users. According to the data report released by We are social in 2020, the Internet popularity rate of Southeast Asian countries usually between 67%-88%. Although lower than European and American countries, it is still higher than China and the world average (59%). The number of Internet users has grown rapidly, with an annual growth rate of 8.2%.

                                                        (source：We are social & Hootsuite)

2. Internet use longest in length

In addition,users in Southeast Asian countries spend more time online than the world average time. Among the top 10 countries, there are 4 Southeast Asian countries. Among them, the Philippines is the country with the longest online time in the world, spending an average of 9 hours and 45 minutes online every day, it is higher than the world average of 6 hours and 43 minutes.

                                                       (source：We are social & Hootsuite)

3. Mobile Internet users are main stream

Among all Internet devices, mobile devices are the most popular tool for the public. The most active regions for mobile connections are South Africa, Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia. Among the top five countries in the world that use mobile phones for the longest time to surf the Internet, Southeast Asia accounts for three, namely the Philippines, Thailand, and Indonesia, Malaysia is 12th, and Vietnam and Singapore are also among the top 30. People in these countries use mobile phones to surf on the Internet even more than half of their Internet use time.

                                                   ( source：We are social & Hootsuite)

                                                      (source：We are social & Hootsuite)

4. Digital economy and digital fiance used frequently

The high popularity of mobile devices and high network adhesion have made people in Southeast Asia highly accept e-commerce and digital finance. In Indonesia, nearly 90% of the people have shopped online, ranking first in the world. Thailand and Malaysia ranked second and fifth respectively. In terms of financial services, Thailand ranks first in the world, with 65% of Thais using banks and financial applications every month. Malaysia ranks 8th.

Environmental advantages and economic potential will help Southeast Asia's future digital economy circle forming

The population dividend in Southeast Asia, and the financial advantages , combining with the digital use habit and frequency, Southeast Asia country have get use to the digital finance market which has been thriving in Southeast Asia.

With the advantages of finance and environment, Southeast Asia is expected to become a digital economic circle and the most active and developed area in the global digital economy in the future .