According to the 7th Southeast Asia Digital Economy Report, with the theme “Overcoming the waves, reaching out to the sea of opportunities”, published by Google, Temasek, and Bain & Company, with a 28 per cent increase posted in 2022, Vietnam is seeing the highest growth in the digital economy in Southeast Asia.

The report shows that the total value of goods is expected to increase 28 per cent, from $18 billion in 2021 to $23 billion this year. With growth of 31 per cent in the 2022-2025 period, the report forecasts that Vietnam’s digital economy will reach some $49 billion by 2025 and a record $120-200 billion by 2030.

Of the $23 billion, the e-commerce sector makes the most significant contribution, with $14 billion. Other fields such as online travel, transportation, food, and audio-visual services, though still making a modest contribution to the digital economy, also saw strong growth this year.

Urban digital users have the highest adoption of digital services, with e-commerce, transportation services, and food delivery topping the list, with 96 per cent, 85 per cent, and 85 per cent, respectively. The frequency of a Vietnamese person consuming digital content is lower than the regional average, however, with 23 per cent of respondents saying they watch video-on-demand at least once a week, followed by 19 per cent for online gaming and 16 per cent for on-demand music. This shows that Vietnam still has a lot of potential for growth in the long term.

Digital financial services also continue to thrive. The digital lending sector posted the fastest compound annual growth rate (CAGR), of 114 per cent. The investment sector is expected to make the biggest leap by 2025, with a CAGR of more than 106 per cent. Meanwhile, payment and money transfers also saw good growth, of 21 per cent and 31 per cent, respectively.

Total investment in the e-commerce industry in the first half of this year stood at about $230 million, becoming the most popular industry among investors, followed by online media services with $190 million. With 15 per cent growth in deal value from the first half of 2021 to the first half of 2022, technology capital remains strong and Southeast Asia continues to be a hot spot in investment attraction.