Southeast Asia’s growing Internet Economy: What it means for supply chain in 2025
24 Aug 202511 min read
Summary
- Southeast Asia’s internet economy is expanding rapidly, projected to surpass $330B by 2025, with shifting consumer habits like online groceries, free delivery demand, and omnichannel shopping driving change.
- Infrastructure gaps and last-mile challenges persist, but digitalization, AI, IoT, robotics, and cloud logistics are enabling faster, more efficient, and resilient supply chains.
- Embedded finance, digital payments, and SME lending are fostering financial inclusion, while innovation, cybersecurity, and resilience will determine Southeast Asia’s global supply chain leadership.
Southeast Asia's internet economy is undergoing an expansion that is disrupting the business as usual. In 2022, the region's digital economy, encompassing e-commerce, online travel, ride-hailing, and media, reached approximately $200 million, and it is well on its way to increasing to $263 billion in the US. It may even rise to surpass $330 billion by 2025. This increase was further verified by Statista, which forecasts it to continue growing. The increase in such progress, primarily attributable to e-commerce, fintech, and digital services, is what makes the internet economy a more substantial asset in regional GDP. The area had a net addition of 100 million internet users over the past three years, reaching 460 million people in 2022.
But with the rapid growth of the digital economy, the central concern remains: Are Southeast Asia's supply systems up to the challenges of soaring customer expectations and the dynamic digital standards?
Members Only Content
To read the full article and access exclusive content, please login or register as a member.
Member Benefits:
- • Full access to all articles
- • Exclusive industry insights
- • Apply Supply Chain jobs in asia