Weizhuo: The 2024 Southeast Asia E-commerce Going Global Report mainly analyzes from three aspects: Southeast Asia's macroeconomy, electronic economy, and consumers, providing data support and strategic recommendations for enterprises expanding into Southeast Asia. The main contents are as follows:
1. Southeast Asia Macro Economy
- Economic Growth: From 2020 to 2025, the overall GDP of Southeast Asia shows a growth trend, with strong resilience against global macroeconomic headwinds. The region has a large population base, providing both consumer markets and labor resources.
- Inflation: The inflation rate fluctuated from 2022 to 2025.
- Per Capita GDP: The per capita GDP levels vary among countries, with Singapore, Japan, and South Korea being higher, Malaysia similar to China, and Vietnam, Indonesia, and Thailand being lower.
- Economic Vitality: Major developing countries such as Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, and India have relatively low per capita GDP, but their economies are growing rapidly. The economic growth rate from 2024 to 2026 is expected to far exceed that of China.
- Favorable Policies: Since 2020, China has introduced a series of policies to support the development of cross-border e-commerce, following the impact of the pandemic.
2. Southeast Asia Electronic Economy
- Internet Penetration: In 2023, the proportion of internet users in Southeast Asia reached 70 - 80%, and internet consumers reached 50 - 60%.
- Digital Economy Scale: In 2023, the GMV of Southeast Asia's digital economy reached USD 218 billion, with both total transaction value and revenue showing double-digit growth.
- E-commerce Market: From 2019 to 2025, the scale of the e-commerce market continues to expand, and the platform revenue growth rate of the e-commerce market from 2021 to 2023 is relatively high.
- Market Size by Country: By 2030, Indonesia's e-commerce market is expected to generate about USD 160 billion in online retail sales, accounting for more than 42% of the Southeast Asian e-commerce market. Other emerging markets include Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam.
- Major E-commerce Platforms: In 2023, Shopee was the most visited online marketplace in Southeast Asia, with a monthly visit volume of 342.8 million.
3. Southeast Asia Consumers
- Consumer Classification: Divided into high-value users (top 30% of online users) and non-high-value users (top 70% of online users). High-value users account for 52% of income and contribute greatly to digital economy spending.
- Consumer Behavior
- Consumption Ratio: In 2023, the average proportion of digital economy consumption by high-value groups was 73%. The proportion of offline physical spending by high-value groups was 46% - 54%, while for non-high-value groups, offline physical spending accounted for 12% and online spending for 9%.
- Purchase Frequency: High-value users have a significantly higher frequency of online purchases than ordinary users, with the frequency of purchases for miscellaneous goods far exceeding that for games and e-commerce.
- Consumption Barriers: Delivery issues are the main obstacle to online consumption, and non-high-value consumers are more eager to touch products.
- Reasons for Consumption: Consumers value price most, followed by platform trust and user experience. Product diversity, recommendations, delivery time, and payment methods are also factors considered.
