Southeast Asia’s digital economy to hit $368 billion

Reaching $368 billion in GMV means customers and businesses across Southeast Asia are expected to buy $368 billion worth of digitally enabled goods and services in 2026. It shows the scale of activity flowing through digital platforms and services. It does not mean the region’s companies will earn $368 billion in profit or revenue.

The total includes activities such as online shopping, travel bookings, mobility, and food delivery. E-commerce alone is projected to generate $226 billion in GMV. Mobility and food delivery are expected to reach $40 billion, while online travel is projected at $59 billion.

This figure matters because the digital economy is growing 17% year on year. The report puts the region on track to exceed $1 trillion by 2035. Financial services are reported separately using GTV, while media uses revenue, so these figures should not simply be added together.

This is rapid expansion, not just a large headline number. The region’s digital economy is projected to grow 17% year on year and reach $368 billion in GMV in 2026. That growth reflects rising activity across shopping, travel, media, transport, food delivery, and financial services.

Generative AI is helping accelerate the change. It is used by 243 million people, or 58% of the working population, and is scaling four times faster than the rollout of mobile internet. The report also projects a 60-fold increase in regional AI usage over the next five years as confidence in AI agents grows.

The longer-term direction is even more significant. Southeast Asia’s digital economy is firmly on track to exceed $1 trillion by 2035. Reaching that milestone will depend on affordable AI, expanded data centers, efficient energy use, safeguards, and shared regional rules.

Several sectors are driving Southeast Asia’s digital economy. E-commerce leads the listed GMV categories at $226 billion, followed by online travel at $59 billion and mobility and food delivery at $40 billion. Online media contributes $44 billion in revenue, while digital financial services record $1,650 billion in GTV.

These figures describe different kinds of activity. E-commerce covers online purchases, travel includes digital bookings, and mobility and food delivery include rides and orders. Media earns revenue from digital content and advertising. Financial services measure the value of transactions handled, rather than the value of goods sold.

The sectors are also growing at different rates. Online media is up 22% year on year, e-commerce 18%, mobility and food delivery 15%, digital financial services 16%, and online travel 10%. Their measures are not directly interchangeable, but together show broad digital expansion.

Generative AI increases activity by making digital services more useful and personal. It helps people find products, plan trips, discover content, move around cities, and manage money. Easier decisions can lead to more completed purchases, bookings, orders, and transactions.

In e-commerce, multimodal discovery and in-app assistants help shoppers handle complex purchases. These personalized experiences drive 10% higher conversions and can lift order volume by as much as 75%. In travel, generative AI has become the second-most used itinerary tool, behind traditional search engines. Online media reports a 10% to 20% quality engagement uplift.

AI also supports predictive suggestions, smarter routing, and pooled rides in mobility. Financial services use it for real-time fraud detection, broader credit access, and personalized recommendations. Together, these applications help explain the strong growth across sectors, including online media’s 22% year-on-year increase.

Agentic commerce means AI moves beyond answering a question and performs a multi-step task, such as comparing prices and completing a purchase. The agent acts on a user’s instructions, potentially handling decisions and transactions with less direct involvement. This could make digital shopping faster and more convenient.

Southeast Asia already has a foundation for this shift. Seventy-two percent of users rely on everyday automation such as price tracking, and 75% say they would let AI agents compare prices and complete transactions for them. Trust has also risen, with 62% reporting greater trust in AI tools than a year earlier.

Users still want protections before handing over control. Their priorities include robust privacy safeguards, clear information about what AI can and cannot do, and the ability to reverse transactions. These safeguards can make automation feel controlled rather than risky, supporting wider adoption.

Southeast Asia’s digital ecosystem must expand both its physical capacity and its rules. The report projects a 60-fold increase in regional AI usage by 2030, creating much greater demand for computing. Businesses also need affordable models, practical returns, privacy safeguards, and clear safety rules for sustainable adoption.

Data-center capacity must grow about threefold over the next five years, with AI workloads taking a dominant share of infrastructure. Facilities must become more energy efficient. Singapore’s binding Power Usage Effectiveness rules under the Digital Infrastructure Bill are one example of a national framework. Malaysia’s CRESS model illustrates expanded clean-energy access.

Regional coordination is another requirement. The upcoming ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement, expected in November 2026, is intended to create the world’s first region-wide digital trade pact. Together, infrastructure, energy, efficiency, and governance can support wider AI use.

GMV is the total value of goods and services traded through a marketplace or digital economy. GTV is the total value of financial transactions handled by a service. Revenue is the income a business receives from its activities, such as advertising, subscriptions, or content sales. Each metric answers a different question.

The report uses GMV for e-commerce, online travel, and mobility and food delivery. It reports $226 billion for e-commerce, $59 billion for travel, and $40 billion for mobility and food delivery. Digital financial services use GTV and reach $1,650 billion. Online media uses revenue and records $44 billion.

These measures matter because transaction value is not the same as business income. A platform can facilitate a large amount of spending without retaining all of it as revenue. Using the appropriate metric makes comparisons clearer and avoids adding unlike figures together.