Policy coordination can boost e-commerce across the Asia Pacific region
The Asia Pacific (APAC) region, with over 50 diverse countries, is currently experiencing phenomenal economic growth. Home to more than half the world’s population (52% in 2023) and economic giants like Japan and India, the region’s GDP (35.4% of the world’s in 2023) has surpassed that of North America and Europe. This trajectory is projected to continue, with APAC projected to grow at 4.2% in 2024 by the International Monetary Fund, significantly faster than the global pace of 2.9%, with the economies of countries like India and Bangladesh expected to expand at double the world’s rate.
With high economic growth, the APAC region has become the world’s largest market for electronic commerce. According to a 2023 study by Data Bridge Market Research, the e-commerce sector of the region was valued at $2.9 trillion in 2022 and is projected to reach nearly $6.2 trillion by 2030. In 2022, the region accounted for around 58% of the global retail e-commerce market.
India saw a surge in online consumers, with 101 million new shoppers using the internet between 2020 and 2022, while registered micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) tripled from 5.1 million in 2021 to 15 million in 2023. Indonesia witnessed a similar trend, with over 20.2 million MSMEs joining online platforms in 2022. This boom is driven by the internet’s ability to expand market reach, reduce costs and provide new channels.
The APAC region is experiencing a confluence of factors that are creating a ‘perfect storm’ in favour of e-commerce growth. A burgeoning middle-class with rising disposable income, projected to reach a staggering 3.5 billion by 2030, forms a massive consumer base eager to shop online. MSMEs are joining the wave, with 72% of them in the
. Read more on livemint.com
