Yahoo Finance 
Singapore projected to be biggest digital wealth market in Southeast Asia by 2030
Report by Google, Temasek and Bain & Company projected an increase from US$26 billion in 2023 to approximately US$150 billion in 2030
SINGAPORE — It is projected that Singapore will be the biggest digital wealth market in Southeast Asia (SEA) by the end of the decade, with an increase from US$26 billion (S$36 billion) of assets under management for digital wealth in 2023 to approximately US$150 billion in 2030.
This and other findings were unveiled in the eighth edition of the e-Conomy SEA report by Google, Temasek and Bain & Company on Wednesday (1 November).
The annual research report dives into trends and insights of five digital sectors – e-commerce, travel, food and transport, online media and digital financial services (DFS) – and covers the state and outlook of the region's technology funding landscape across Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Despite having the highest digital penetration in the region, with 90 per cent of Singapore's consumer payments are made digitally, the report indicated there is "significant headroom for growth" across other financial services in the city-state, such as digital insurance and digital wealth, which remains "significantly under-penetrated".
Largest digital lending market
Elsewhere in the DFS sector, the report found that Singapore is also the leading country in the digital lending space. The country is expected to be the biggest digital lending market in the region from 2023 through 2030. Its loan book balance is projected to grow from US$24 billion in 2023 to an estimated US$70 billion by 2030.
At present, the digital lending space is the single biggest driver of DFS revenue across the region. It makes up US$19 billion of the US$30 billion total DFS revenue in Southeast Asia. According to the report, this was due to high lending rates and consumer demand, fuelled by underbanked consumers and small businesses participating in the digital economy.
Also read: Singapore sees $77 billion digital economy as key to more growth
Also read: Helping Singapore's seniors tackle the emotional impact of digitalisation
Also read: GXS Bank launches flexi loans from as low as S$200 with tenure as short as 2 months
The report also attributed the intensifying competition between DFS players as a driver of DFS adoption and digital lending revenue, as fintechs made lending services more accessible to the underbanked segment while established financial institutions were quick to shift large existing customer bases to digitalised services.
How big is the digital economy?
According to the report, the overall digital economy (excluding the DFS sector) in Singapore is expected to grow by 12 per cent to reach US$22 billion in 2023 and is projected to reach approximately US$30 billion in 2025.
The growth in gross merchandise value (GMV), which refers to the total value of goods or services sold, was largely driven by travel recovery with a 38 per cent increase to US$7 billion in 2023.
This puts online travel as the second largest sector in Singapore's digital economy, although e-commerce continues to lead the pack with a GMV of US$8 billion in 2023.
Online media generated US$3 billion in 2023 and is estimated to reach US$5 billion in 2030, while GMV for transport and food made up US$5 billion in 2023 and is projected to reach US$10 billion by 2030.
Findings in the report also showed that Southeast Asia's overall GMV is moving at an upward trajectory and is set to reach US$218 billion in 2023 with an 11 per cent year-on-year growth.
The region's total digital economy revenue is poised to hit US$100 billion in 2023, a key milestone for the region, and growing at 1.7 times as fast as the region's GMV. The report estimated that the region's digital economy revenue was about US$12 billion just seven years ago in 2016, indicating that revenue has multiplied about eight times since.
Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter.
