Vietnam emerges as Southeast Asia s fastest growing digital economy

Vietnam has emerged as Southeast Asia's fastest-growing digital economy, as projected by the e-Conomy SEA 2026 report. The report predicts Vietnam's gross merchandise value (GMV) will rise by 20% in 2026, reaching $49 billion. Key sectors driving this growth include e-commerce and online travel, which have experienced double-digit expansion.

E-commerce alone accounts for two-thirds of the digital economy, growing 22% on-year to $32 billion in 2026, and is projected to reach $61 billion by 2030. Online travel has also shown momentum, recording a 15% growth to reach $5 billion in GMV, placing Vietnam on par with Malaysia as the fastest-expanding sector in the region. Digital financial services, particularly digital lending and payments, have seen rapid growth, with digital lending emerging as the fastest-growing vertical across Vietnam's digital economy and Southeast Asia, with loan balances surging 34% in 2026.

Digital payments have also accelerated rapidly, growing 21% on-year to $197 billion in gross transaction value (GTV) and are projected to reach $302 billion by 2030, driven by a 38% surge in non-cash transactions in early 2026. Vietnam stands out as the most engaged AI market in the region, with 45 million GenAI users representing 65% of the working population, generating 31 billion annual AI queries.

The integration of AI into daily routines is reshaping commerce, with 44% of consumer journeys now beginning with AI, and 80% of users willing to delegate purchases to AI agents. Vietnamese is the default language for AI interactions in the country, accounting for 80% of conversations, underscoring a growing demand for locally tuned models tailored to the Vietnamese market.