E-commerce in Southeast Asia - statistics & facts
Southeast Asians spend a lot of time online. It is no surprise that the internet economy in Southeast Asia has been growing exponentially and is forecast to reach 363 billion U.S. dollars by 2025. The increasing internet penetration rates, along with a growing share of young adults and new consumers across the region, combined with economic growth, created an opportune environment for e-commerce to thrive. In the past decade, several giant e-commerce companies were established in the region, such as Shopee, Tokopedia, and Grab.
While the leading e-commerce platforms across the region are online marketplaces, social commerce and live commerce are flourishing in Southeast Asia. Vietnam is home to the largest social commerce market in Southeast Asia as well as among the top users of live commerce, surpassing Indonesia and Thailand.
Leading digital markets
As the most populated Southeast Asian country, Indonesia leads by e-commerce market size. While all markets were forecast to expand significantly in the coming years, Vietnam and the Philippines are among the markets projected to experience the most growth. Foreign online shopping platforms such as Shopee and Lazada were most popular in the emerging digital markets in Southeast Asia. For example, the Singaporean online shopping platform Shopee was the most visited e-commerce website in Vietnam, the Philippines, Thailand, and Malaysia. However, domestic e-commerce websites also generate considerable traffic, like The Gioi Di Dong in Vietnam.While the leading e-commerce platforms across the region are online marketplaces, social commerce and live commerce are flourishing in Southeast Asia. Vietnam is home to the largest social commerce market in Southeast Asia as well as among the top users of live commerce, surpassing Indonesia and Thailand.
