New Delhi, Nov 13 (KNN) Vietnam for a second year in a row is the fastest growing digital economy in Southeast Asia, reported 8th Southeast Asia Digital Economy report released by Google, Temasek and Bain & Company last week.

According to the report the Southeast Asian country is expected to hold this position until 2025.

The report covering Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam says despite global economic headwinds, the region’s gross merchandise value (GMV) remains on an upward trajectory, growing at 11 per cent a year, and is set to reach USD 218 billion.

It says the region’s revenues from the digital economy are poised to hit USD 100 billion this year.

Vietnam’s GMV is expected to grow from USD 30 billion this year to around USD 45 billion in 2025 driven by e-commerce and online travel.

The former will grow by 11 per cent this year, and at a CAGR of 22 per cent between 2023 and 2025, reaching around USD 24 billion. 

Full recovery in the travel sector is expected this year, driven primarily by sharp growth in domestic travel. Online travel will grow at 21 per cent to USD 7 billion.

According to the report, the irreversible offline-to-online behaviour shift continues to drive growth in digital financial services adoption, including digital payments.

While in Southeast Asia digital payments adoption has reached 50 per cent, Việt Nam is also embracing digital payments and is the fastest growing country, growing by 19 per cent in 2022 and 2023 and at 13 per cent CAGR in 2023-25.

(KNN Bureau)