An estimated 70 million more people shopped online in six Southeast Asian countries since the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, according to a report from Facebook and Bain & Company.

Grab delivery cyclists ride past each other in Singapore in 2020 (Photo: AFP)

As governments encourage people to stay at home to curb the spread of the coronavirus, Southeast Asia saw a rapid adoption of digital services like e-commerce, food delivery, and online payment methods.

This trend is predicted to continue in the coming time. The report, which surveyed more than 16,000 people in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam, projected the number of digital consumers in Southeast Asia will reach 350 million by the end of this year.

By the end of 2021, Facebook and Bain expect more than 70 percent of people 15-years-old and above in the surveyed countries to shop online. The report predicted the number of online shoppers in Southeast Asia will reach 380 million by 2026.

Among the surveyed countries, Indonesia, the largest economy in Southeast Asia, continues to see the highest growth rate, the report said, adding that the country’s digital consumer population is predicted to grow around 15 percent, from 144 million in 2020 to 165 million in 2021.

According to the report, in the first three months of 2021, 88 percent of private equity and venture capital investments in the region flowed into the technology and internet sector. Of that, 56 percent went into financial technology.

Source: VNA