The Vietnamese digital economy will grow by 31% this year compared to the same period last year, reaching $21 billion.
This is stated in the e-Conomy SEA 2021 Report, which was released this week by Temasek, Google, and management consulting firm Bain & Company.
As a result, the Vietnamese internet economy could reach US$220 billion in Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV) by 2030, placing it second only to Indonesia.
This is encouraging in light of the shrinking online travel market. If current trends continue, Vietnam’s GMV is expected to reach $57 billion by 2025.
The Vietnamese digital economy
The report also stated that since COVID-19 was reintroduced in the first half of this year, the country has added 8 million digital consumers, with non-metro areas accounting for more than half of the total.
Notably, 99 percent of these new consumers expressed a desire to continue using online services after the pandemic, indicating a very high level of user adoption of digital services and products in our country.
Thirty percent of digital merchants believe that without digital platforms, they would not have survived the pandemic.
Digital financial services are also becoming critical enablers, with 98% of digital merchants now accepting digital payments and 72% using digital lending solutions. Many are also embracing digital tools to engage with their customers, with 72% planning to increase their use of digital marketing tools over the next five years.
Vietnam as an innovation hub
According to the report, Vietnam remains an appealing innovation hub as global capital continues to pour in.
Investments and deals reached a record high of $1.37 billion in the first half of 2021, surpassing full-year investments in recent years, fueled by investment interest in digital start-ups in the fields of e-commerce, fintech, healthtech, and edtech.
In terms of Southeast Asia, the report states that the region is on track to become a digital economy with a GMV of US$1 trillion by 2030.
More than 440 million internet users, including 350 million digital consumers in the region, are the primary drivers of this.
Southeast Asia has added 60 million new digital consumers since the outbreak began, with 20 million joining in the first half of this year.
Southeast Asian digital consumers have increased their spending on online services as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
As a result, Southeast Asia’s GMV is expected to reach $174 billion by the end of the year, rising to $360 billion by 2025, exceeding the previous estimate of $300 billion.