Author Archives: Rajan Anandan

330 million internet users accelerating the growth of Southeast Asia’s internet economy

With hundreds of millions of Southeast Asians coming online, we should pay attention to the opportunities in the region’s dynamic internet economy. In last year’s “e-Conomy 2025 Southeast Asia” report, Google and Temasek examined the incredible growth in Southeast Asia’s internet economy. It turns out that Southeast Asia’s internet economy growth has exceeded expectations. The region’s internet economy will reach $50 billion in 2017, outpacing earlier growth expectations by 35 percent. In the “e-Conomy Southeast Asia Spotlight 2017” report, we’ve found that the region is well on track to realizing a $200 billion internet economy by 2025.

SEA-internet-economy
Southeast Asia’s internet economy market size (in USD billions)

Here are some other striking numbers about Southeast Asia’s internet economy from the latest report:

  • 330 million internet users. With more than 70 million new internet users since 2015, Southeast Asia now has the third largest number of internet users in the world—bigger than the whole population of the United States. 

  • 3.6 hours on the mobile internet every day. Southeast Asians spend more time on the mobile internet than anyone else on the planet. Thailand is top of the list with 4.2 hours per day, with Indonesia a close second at 3.9 hours per day. To compare, the U.S. spends 2 hours per day, the U.K. 1.8 hours per day, and Japan 1 hour per day on mobile internet.

  • 140 minutes shopping online every month. Southeast Asians spend almost twice as much time as Americans in e-commerce marketplaces. The region will have an $88.1 billion e-commerce market by 2025.

  • 6 million rides booked through ride-hailing platforms every day. The ride-hailing market in Southeast Asia has grown four-fold since 2015 and will be $20.1 billion by 2025.

  • More than $12 billion raised by Southeast Asian startups since 2016. At 0.18 percent of GDP, the amount of investment into Southeast Asian startups is on par with India’s and a vote of confidence in Southeast Asia’s huge internet potential.

Learn more about Southeast Asia’s growing internet economy in the “e-Conomy Southeast Asia Spotlight 2017.” 

GoogleTemasekInfo

Download the infographic here.

Supporting flood relief efforts in South Asia

This summer, millions of people have been affected by severe flooding and landslides across Bangladesh, India, and Nepal. At least 1,200 people are known to have died, and tens of thousands of houses, schools, and hospitals have been destroyed, leaving people in urgent need of support during and after flood waters recede.

Today, we are committing $1 million from Google.org and Google employees to Goonj and Save the Children for their relief efforts in India and across South Asia.

Support for Save the Children and Goonj

Save the Children (SC) is responding to the floods in all three countries, with the aim of reaching a total of 160,000 people. Their efforts include providing food and livelihood support, temporary shelter materials for those most in need, hygiene items, and water source restoration. Children are often the most vulnerable in crises like these, and SC is also focused on setting up child-friendly spaces where children can gain access to educational materials and playtime, in a safe space away from the devastation.

Local NGO, Goonj, aims to reach 75,000 families across 9 affected states throughout rural India. Their relief efforts include providing families with basic needs kits that include food, mats, blankets, and hygiene items. In the long term, they aim to help rebuild and revive community structures like roads, bridges, and schools.

Save the Children - India Floods

SOS Alerts for South Asia Floods

Google’s Crisis Response team activated SOS Alerts for the flooding in India, Bangladesh, and Nepal. These alerts include the latest news about the floods, an approximate map of the affected area, and local updates from Twitter and other resources.

These alerts are available on Search and Google Maps on mobile and desktop. The Crisis Response team will continue to monitor the floods throughout South Asia and provide additional information and alerts as the situation demands.

SOS Alerts - South Asia Flooding

Our thoughts are with the people of the region.