Southeast Asia digital sales set to rise by 17pct in 2026

SINGAPORE: Southeast Asia's total digital sales volume is expected to increase by 17 per cent to US$368 billion in 2026, according to the annual e-Conomy SEA 2026 report by Google, consulting firm Bain & Company and state investor Temasek.

The report predicted that the total value of goods and services sold through digital platforms, known as gross merchandise value, would continue growing by 13 per cent annually and reach US$1.14 trillion by 2035, with "substantial headroom" remaining

In 2025, there were 421 private funding deals for companies involved in the digital economy in Southeast Asia, down 28.4 per cent from a year earlier

Southeast Asia's digital economy still attracted US$21 billion in funding in the first half of 2026, up from US$11 billion for the whole of 2025

The report attributed this surge to two large data centre deals, including an US$11 billion deal involving STT GDC and a US$5 billion deal involving DayOne

Built data centre capacity had also increased to 5.8 gigawatts by the first half of 2026, from 4.0 gigawatts at the end of 2025

The report noted Southeast Asia's adoption of AI has continued to lag the rest of the world, at 5 million AI tokens per capita. In comparison, the US consumed 60 million AI tokens per capita and Europe consumed 14 million AI tokens per capita

Total initial public offering proceeds in Southeast Asia climbed to US$8.5 billion over the 12 months ended June 30, 2026, the report said, more than double the US$3.6 billion in the prior period, driven by listing activity in Singapore and Malaysia