Malaysia’s internet economy to reach US$21b GMV this year: Report

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s overall internet economy is forecast to reach US$21 billion (RM88.2 billion) in gross merchandise value (GMV) this year, and is expected to hit US$35 billion by 2025, the latest edition of the e-Conomy SEA Report revealed.

The report by Google, Temasek and Bain & Company highlighted growth observed across all sectors of the country’s internet economy.

The report entitled “e-Conomy Southeast Asia (SEA) Report-Roaring ’20s: The SEA Digital Decade” provides new insights into the internet economies of six countries within Southeast Asia namely Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam.

In a statement yesterday, Google Malaysia managing director Marc Woo said despite the lockdowns, businesses have turned to digital platforms to survive and many are expecting to increase usage of digital tools in the next five years.

“Malaysia’s 2021 GMV is projected to hit US$35 billion by 2025 and we’ve seen how the pandemic has led to a permanent shift in digital adoption in Malaysia with 81% of all internet users now consuming digital services. “This robust growth that we’re seeing is encouraging, and with initiatives such as MyDigital in place to transform the country into a digitally-driven nation and a regional digital economy leader by 2030, it reinforces our commitment to shaping an equitable, safe and inclusive digital economy that will provide economic opportunity for current and future generations in our mission to advance Malaysia together,” he said.

The report dives into trends across seven internet economic sectors: five leading sectors comprising e-commerce, transport & food, online travel, online media, and digital financial services, as well as two nascent sectors comprising healthtech and edtech.

“Along with the rest of the region, Malaysia is moving into a new way of life as the pandemic has led to a permanent shift in digital adoption.

“The steep 47% growth of Malaysia’s digital market from US$14 billion in 2020 to US$21 billion in 2021 was driven by a significant 68% surge in e-commerce, which is expected to grow to US$19 billion by 2025,” said the report.

The transport & food and online media sectors also observed double-digit growth at 35% and 14%, respectively, it added.