SINGAPORE ─ Southeast Asia's total digital sales volume is expected to increase by 17 percent to $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 percent annually and reach $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 percent from a year earlier.
Southeast Asia's digital economy still attracted $21 billion in funding in the first half of 2026, up from $11 billion for the whole of 2025.
The report attributed this surge to two large data center deals, including an $11 billion deal involving STT GDC and a $5 billion deal involving DayOne.
Built data center capacity had also increased to 5.8 gigawatts by the first half of 2026, from 4 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 $8.5 billion over the 12 months ended June 30, 2026, the report said, more than double the $3.6 billion in the prior period, driven by listing activity in Singapore and Malaysia.
