How did Southeast Asia Become $100 billion internet economy in 2019?

Azminoor Rahman
5 min readOct 5, 2019

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Ok, So. “How did Southeast Asia Become $100 billion internet economy in 2019?’ so let’s get started.

In 2016, Google and Temasek launched a multi-year research program to delve into the internet economies of Southeast Asia. This year, with Bain & Company joined Google as a lead research partner, and continue tracking the growth of the internet economy in the region, expanding vertical coverage to Digital Financial Services and diving deeper into e-Commerce, Media, Ride Hailing, and Travel.

Just over a decade ago, almost four in five Southeast Asians had no internet connectivity and limited access to the internet. This day, Southeast Asians are the most engaged mobile internet users in the world. There are 360 million internet users in the region, and 90% of them connect to the internet primarily through their mobile phones. Imagine where we are going?

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Alright, According to the Google Research team, These internet users communicate with their families, friends, and colleagues, and they entertain themselves, learn new skills, and become more productive. Increasingly, they buy products, trips, and food online. All this takes place millions of times every day across the region. A vision that was almost impossible to imagine is now daily routine.

Ok, so. How Southeast Asia internet economy hit $100 billion?

It’s all about consumer behaviors. This day, Internet access growing rapidly all over the world because of need. That’s why the internet economy continues to grow at an unprecedented pace. First time It has reached $100 billion if we compared to last four years.

Now the e-Commerce and Ride Hailing continue to beat the most optimistic of predictions. Otherwise Online Media and Online Travel keep growing at a steady rate, with ample room to expand further. By 2025, the internet economy is expected to grow to $300 billion.This day, Southeast Asia not only fast growing, but they grow faster with dual -speed as compared to last year.

According to the Google research team, The internet economies in Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, and the Philippines are growing by between 20% and 30% annually, with no signs of slowing down. This is a remarkable feat compared to other regions, but hardly the best showing in Southeast Asia. There are two pacesetters in the region one is Indonesia and another is Vietnam, which lead the pack with growth rates in excess of 40% of a year

Companies are now switching their focus from acquiring new customers to driving engagement. Now the companies have only one goal, that is to convince users to stay on their platforms for longer periods, for the belief that purchases will follow. Vying for user engagement, companies have expanded their scope across sectors, moving into new services, gamifying promotions and streaming enticing content. This has ignited more intense competition, while providing users with more choices and lower prices. Watch my video on YouTube.

Now the growth of the internet economy has yet to spread evenly across Southeast Asia. Seven metropolitan areas that has just 15% of the region’s population still account for more than 50% of the internet economy and People living in these metro areas buy six times more online than those living elsewhere. The internet economy, however, has the potential to grow twice as fast in areas outside the big cities, bringing all Southeast Asians on the board.

The report says, the adoption of digital payments has finally reached an inflection point and is expected to cross $1 trillion by 2025, accounting for almost 1 in every 2 dollars spent in the region and the Other Digital Financial Services are still nascent but gaining traction. These technologies-enabled business models are best positioned to give Southeast Asia’s under banked population access to financial services. While new entrants and established players are competing and partnering to take this opportunity, supportive regulations will play a critical role. Please follow me on Instagram.

More than $37 billion of capital has flowed into the internet economy over the last four years. While the majority has gone to e-Commerce and Ride Hailing Unicorns, investments in nearly 3,000 startups in the region remain sizable. A growing cadre of “Aspiring Unicorns” has emerged and is on the lookout for late-stage funding to scale further. Regional and global investors are geared up for this opportunity, ready to back companies for longer and with more resources.

Southeast Asia has made progress in overcoming the initial roadblocks in the internet economy. Internet access is now affordable for large segments of the population, and consumer trust in digital services has improved significantly. e-Commerce logistics, once a challenge, has turned into a business opportunity for both startups and established players. Digital Payments are rapidly spreading online and offline. But talent remains a pressing constraint despite all efforts by internet economy companies to “fill the gap”.

Article source from Think with Google

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Azminoor Rahman

Founder of TheYouthFinance, I write about personal finance and personal growth. https://theyouthfinance.com/