PH internet economy is the fastest growing in SEA

CONTINUED shifts in consumer and merchant behavior, along with strong investor confidence, paves the way for Southeast Asia into its "Digital Decade." Last week, Google, Temasek and Bain & Company released the sixth edition of the e-Conomy Southeast Asia (SEA) Report — "Roaring 20s: The SEA Digital Decade." Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia were the six countries covered in this report. The 10-year outlook highlights a forecast of a $1-trillion digital economy by 2030. Over 350 million internet users or 80 percent are digital consumers, i.e., internet users who have bought at least one online service. Since the pandemic began, SEA has added 60 million new digital consumers, of which 20 million joined in the first half of 2021 alone. Gross merchandise value (GMV) calculations of the internet economy or the digital economy cover four sectors: e-commerce, transport and food, online travel, and online media. Thailand and the Philippines have had the highest proportion of new users during the pandemic.

New digital consumers reached 12 million in the Philippines since the start of the pandemic (up to first half of 2021) of which 63 percent are from non-metro areas. This holds true in SEA, where non-metros comprise most new joiners to the internet economy, of which 99 percent plan to continue using these services. The pandemic has been a catalyst for existing digital users to adopt new online services and increase their frequency of use and spend in these services. Those who used the services before the pandemic have consumed an average of 4.3 more services since the pandemic began and 95 percent of pandemic consumers are still consumers today. Despite increased growth in the last 18 months, there remains significant headroom. Having the lowest digital consumer penetration in the SEA, only 68 percent of internet users are consuming online services.