South-east Asia digital sales to rise 17% to US$368 billion in 2026, research shows
The region’s digital economy draws US$21 billion in funding in H1 2026, beating 2025’s US$11 billion
[SINGAPORE] South-east Asia’s total digital sales volume is expected to increase by 17 per cent to US$368 billion in 2026, according to the annual e-Conomy SEA 2026 report by Google, consulting firm Bain & Company and state investor Temasek.
The report predicted that the total value of goods and services sold through digital platforms, known as gross merchandise value, would continue growing by 13 per cent annually and reach US$1.14 trillion by 2035, with “substantial headroom” remaining.
In 2025, there were 421 private funding deals for companies involved in the digital economy in South-east Asia, down 28.4 per cent from a year earlier.
South-east Asia’s digital economy still attracted US$21 billion in funding in the first half of 2026, up from US$11 billion for the whole of 2025.
The report attributed this surge to two large data centre deals, including an US$11 billion deal involving STT GDC and a US$5 billion deal involving DayOne.
Built data centre capacity had also increased to 5.8 gigawatts by the first half of 2026, from 4 GW at the end of 2025.
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The report noted South-east Asia’s adoption of artificial intelligence has continued to lag the rest of the world, at five million AI tokens per capita. In comparison, the US consumed 60 million AI tokens per capita and Europe consumed 14 million AI tokens per capita.
Total initial public offering proceeds in South-east Asia climbed to US$8.5 billion over the 12 months ended Jun 30, the report said, more than double the US$3.6 billion in the prior period, driven by listing activity in Singapore and Malaysia. REUTERS
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