According to Statista, the smartphones are owned by 85 per cent of all adults in the US and 92 per cent of all adults in the UK. Which country has the greatest potential for growth for mobiles and telecoms networks?
According to the latest European Central Bank data, payment card numbers in the EU have risen to 609 m, which means that each person in the bloc holds an average of 1.8 cards. Where can neobanks and fintechs find new payment customers?
It is important to answer questions such as these that were included in the FT-Omdia Digital Economies Index. It uses a range of data sources to measure advances in five areas of digital product and service consumption worldwide. From this data, it can calculate the national technology markets that are growing the fastest overall, as well as the markets that offer the greatest scope for growth for particular industry sectors - from smartphones to payment cards, from streaming video to enterprise software.
These are the five areas of the digital economy that the FT-Omdia index assesses, using 16 performance measures across 39 countries:
None Connectivity — the ability to connect and communicate with digital services through fixed and mobile broadband connections;
No Devices - access to smart devices to consume digital services, including smartphones, notebooks and tablets, and cellular internet of things equipment, are some of the things that are not covered by any Devices.
None Entertainment — the availability of digital entertainment services, including video and music streaming services, Facebook and YouTube;
None Payments — the ability to pay digitally, the number of cardholders, and the debit cards in issue;
By allocating scores based on these measures and their growth rates, the index can calculate the size of a country's digital economy and forecast how it will change by 2024. Here are the initial findings.
According to the inaugural numbers of the FT-Omdia index, China will surpass the US in 2022 to become the largest digital economy in the world. This pivotal moment is a result of China's sustained infrastructure investment over the past five years, in particular 5 G connectivity and fibre cabling. In the past 12 months alone, China has added 257 m 5 G connections and 43.85 m fibre connections, compared to 58 m and 2.19 m in the US, according to Omdia analysts.
China is investing heavily in industrial automation via cellular IoT equipment. The US has trailed China in broad technology investment, but still lags behind other parts of the world in its adoption of new systems, for example, payment cards. The US maintains the second spot on the index to 2024, with strength in digital entertainment markets and enterprise software.
In the years to 2024, India, Peru, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Mexico will be the five fastest growing digital economies, based on the sectors covered by the FT-Omdia Index.
The income to access digital platforms, the necessary technology infrastructure, and the growing proportion of middle-class consumers are some of the things that all of these markets have in common. The digital infrastructure in some countries is equivalent to that in developed economies.
India is projected to have the fastest-growing digital economy, with a compound annual growth rate of 8.8 per cent over the period 2020 -- 2024. India is expected to see a CAGR of 14 per cent in its enterprise IT market.
It is predicted to surpass digital payments.
Indonesia's digital growth will be fueled by international services and the rapid adoption of mobile messaging and mobile gaming. More social media use and video consumption in the Philippines are being boosted by the growing internet penetration in the Philippines. To find out which of these and other national markets are predicted to grow fastest in the five main areas covered by the index, read on:
More details on the FT-Omdia Digital Economies Index are available on the Omdia web portal.