In the second half of the last century, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan became known as Asia’s “tiger” economies, as rapid industrialisation, trade, and development of finance led to high rates of sustained growth. Today, the first two countries are world-leading financial hubs and the second two are known for their state of the art manufacturing industries.
A similar transformation is occurring in Southeast Asia, only now the forefront of change is being driven by the mobile economy. Nowhere is this more evident than in Indonesia, the fourth largest country in the world by population. In addition to being home to over 265 million people, here are some other amazing facts about Indonesia:
- It is a young country. The median age is 29, and 60 per cent of the population is 40 or under
- It is one of the most mobile-first countries in the world: of the 150 million internet users in Indonesia, 95 per cent, or 142 million, are mobile
- 60 per cent of all adult Indonesians now have smartphones
When you combine these three factors, Indonesia represents a huge population of young, mobile savvy digital natives. Indonesians spend 206 minutes a day on social media compared with the global average of 124. Top platforms, like Youtube, Whatsapp, and Facebook, are all used by more than 80 per cent of online Indonesians. Seventy-six per cent of all internet users in Indonesia make purchases from their phones, the highest rate of mobile e-commerce of any country in the world.