Digital sales in South-east Asia projected at US$368 billion in 2026
Funding reached US$21 billion during the first half of 2026, with two large data centre deals driving the increase, according to an annual industry report.
Google, Bain & Company and Temasek expect South-east Asia to record US$368 billion in digital sales in 2026, representing growth of 17 per cent. Their annual e-Conomy SEA 2026 report projects that gross merchandise value will reach US$1.14 trillion by 2035.
That longer-term forecast assumes annual growth of 13 per cent. Gross merchandise value measures sales of goods and services conducted through digital platforms.
The region attracted funding of US$21 billion for its digital economy during January-June 2026, against US$11 billion across the whole of 2025. The report identified two data centre transactions as the drivers: one involving STT GDC worth US$11 billion, and another involving DayOne worth US$5 billion.
By the first half of 2026, built data centre capacity stood at 5.8 gigawatts, compared with 4 GW at end-2025. Separately, private funding transactions involving regional digital-economy companies numbered 421 in 2025, a decline of 28.4 per cent.
The report also found that regional artificial intelligence adoption trailed the rest of the world. AI token consumption per capita was five million in South-east Asia, versus 60 million in the US and 14 million in Europe.
Regional initial public offerings generated US$8.5 billion during the year ended June 30, exceeding twice the previous period’s US$3.6 billion. The report linked the rise to Singapore and Malaysia listing activity.
