# Southeast Asia’s Digital Economy Forecast to Reach $368 Billion in 2026

By John Kim

Canonical URL: https://www.tokenpost.com/news/business/36774
Published: 2026-10-21T15:08:06.000Z
Updated: 2026-10-21T15:08:06.000Z
Section: Business

> Generative AI has an estimated 243 million users in the region, while just 1% to 2% of the population in six surveyed countries pays for AI accounts.

The digital economy across Southeast Asia is forecast at $368 billion in gross merchandise value for 2026, representing 17% growth from 2025 amid widespread generative AI use.

Across 10 countries, e-commerce remains the biggest component, with $226 billion in projected merchandise value, an 18% increase. Online travel is forecast at $59 billion, up 10%, and mobility and food delivery at $40 billion, up 15%. Online media revenue is projected at $44 billion, up 22%; it is measured differently from the merchandise-value figures.

Digital financial services have a much larger transaction figure: $1.65 trillion in projected gross transaction value, 16% above 2025. Gross transaction value tracks money moving through those services, while the $368 billion forecast measures digital-economy merchandise value. The figures describe different activity and cannot be combined into a single market total.

Generative AI has an estimated 243 million users in Southeast Asia, equivalent to 58% of the region’s working population. That adoption estimate applies to the 10-country region. The consumer survey behind the purchasing figures covers six countries, so its responses describe a narrower group.

The July 2026 survey questioned 9,006 AI users in those six countries. Of them, 75% said they would be comfortable with a generally reliable AI assistant finding the best price and buying a product on their behalf. The response measures willingness to delegate a purchase, rather than the share of shoppers who have already done so.

Paid adoption remains much smaller: 1% to 2% of the six-country population pays for generative AI accounts. That percentage uses the entire population of those countries as its base, whereas the 58% adoption estimate uses Southeast Asia’s working population. The two figures therefore capture different aspects of AI use.

Investors put $3.2 billion into AI applications in the first six months of 2026, or 80% of the private funding tracked for digital applications. The funding measure leaves out data centers, semiconductors and companies developing physical AI.

“Southeast Asia’s AI story is shifting from how many people use it to how deeply they use it,” said Bain & Company partner Florian Hoppe.