The latest edition of the e‑Conomy SEA 2025 Report, produced by Temasek, Google and Bain & Company, forecasts that Southeast Asia’s digital economy will exceed US$300 billion in gross merchandise value (GMV) in 2025 an acceleration driven by proliferating mobile usage, digital payments, video commerce and rising artificial-intelligence adoption. Temasek Corporate Website English
The report expands its coverage to ten Southeast Asian nations for the first time, including Brunei, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar in addition to the usual six (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam). Temasek Corporate Website English
Key Metrics & Trends
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Over the past decade, the region has achieved a 7.4 × growth in GMV and 11.2 × growth in revenue, highlighting the scale of transformation in digital commerce. Temasek Corporate Website English
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In 2025 forecasts, e-commerce GMV is projected at US$185 billion, while revenue across digital economy sectors is estimated at US$135 billion. Temasek Corporate Website English
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Video commerce is now estimated to account for roughly 25 % of total GMV, underlining the shift in consumer behaviour towards live-streaming and creator-led shopping experiences. Temasek Corporate Website English
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Digital financial services are significantly maturing: multiple national unified-QR systems are operational, embedded lending is expanding, and digital wealth platforms are scaling in several markets. Temasek Corporate Website English
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Private-funding flows in the digital economy have reached approximately US$8 billion in 2025 (up ~15 % YoY), with a clear tilt toward late-stage deals, software and services, and fintech/digital-financial-services plays over early-stage high-risk bets. Temasek Corporate Website English
Drivers of Growth
Mobile-first population: With more than 680 million people in the ten-country region and high smartphone penetration, digital commerce has become deeply embedded in daily life. Temasek Corporate Website English
Video commerce and social-commerce convergence: Platforms are increasingly enabling livestream and creator-driven shopping; in Singapore, the number of sellers using video commerce rose 125 % YoY in one example detailed in the report. Temasek Corporate Website English
Advanced digital-payments and embedded finance: Over 60 % of all payments in Southeast Asia are now digital; cross-border QR interoperability and embedded-credit services accelerate consumer adoption and ecosystem depth. Temasek Corporate Website English
AI infrastructure investment: Data-centre capacity is projected to grow more than 180 % across Southeast Asia, with over US$2.3 billion invested in AI-startups in the past twelve months alone. Temasek Corporate Website English
Regional Highlights
Singapore remains a regional benchmark: its digital-economy GMV is forecast to reach US$29 billion in 2025 (+7 % YoY) with strong growth in online-media, transport & food-delivery, and digital wealth. The city-state also posted US$1.31 billion in AI-funding in H1 2025—highest in the region. Temasek Corporate Website English
Emerging markets such as Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines are leading user-growth and transaction-volumes, particularly in livestream shopping and mobile commerce. Offline to online migration and young demographics underpin this expansion.
Implications for Stakeholders
For retailers & brands: Online sales are no longer just incremental; platforms are evolving into video-first, AI-enabled experiences. Brands must optimise for mobile, live-commerce funnels, data-driven personalisation and rapid fulfilment.
For tech and infrastructure providers: The demand for cloud services, data centres, AI-tools, secure payments and logistics is intensifying. Southeast Asia presents a growth frontier for global players seeking to embed in the next-wave digital-economy infrastructure.
For investors: The shift toward later-stage deals and capital discipline suggests investors are now backing business models with revenue traction and profitability paths. The region’s digital economy is maturing—early-stage speculation is receding.
For policymakers & regulators: With rapid growth comes regulation: data-privacy regimes, creator-commerce governance, cross-border payment frameworks and AI ethics will increasingly attract attention. Governments must balance enabling innovation and safeguarding consumers.
Challenges & Risks
Despite strong momentum, the region faces several structural risks:
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Logistics and delivery infrastructure still varies widely across islands and rural zones, raising fulfilment costs and complicating scalability.
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Intense competition and discounting in video-commerce and live-shopping may squeeze margins for smaller players.
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Regulatory and policy environments remain heterogeneous—privacy laws, digital-taxation regimes, and cross-border trade rules differ markedly between countries.
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Private funding, while recovering, remains concentrated; the early-stage ecosystem may face capital constraints if exit pathways lag.
Outlook & Key Indicators
Looking ahead, critical metrics and trends to monitor include:
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Share of video commerce in GMV across key markets.
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Average order value, fulfilment cost and repeat purchase rate in mobile-first shopping segments.
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Growth rates in digital-financial-services metrics: digital-loans, digital-wealth AUM, number of active fintech users.
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Investments and exits in AI-and-deep-tech startups, and how these translate into regional-scale business models.
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Policy evolution across ASEAN around data-governance, creator-economy regulation and digital-taxation frameworks.
If current trajectories hold, Southeast Asia will not only grow in size but also accelerate in quality—shifting from high-growth, low-profit models into a more sustainable, technology-enabled digital economy.
Conclusion
The e-Conomy SEA 2025 report underscores a pivotal shift: Southeast Asia is no longer an emerging digital frontier—it is rapidly becoming a mature and innovation-driven digital economy. With GMV projected to surpass US$300 billion in 2025 and strong momentum across video commerce, AI infrastructure and digital-finance adoption, the region is gaining global relevance. The question for stakeholders is not if but how they will participate, adapt and capitalise in this evolving ecosystem.
