HANOI (Reuters) – Vietnam is aiming for double-digit annual growth in the turnover of e-commerce over the next five years, forecasting that sales in the sector could be worth $35 billion by 2025 in the Southeast Asian country.
More than half of Vietnam’s 96 million people are set to shop online by 2025, according to the government’s e-commerce development strategy unveiled late on Monday.
Online shopping in Vietnam has been boosted recently by movement restrictions related to the coronavirus outbreak, with online sales rising by up to 20% from the pre-pandemic period, according to state media reports.
Each online shopper is expected to spend an average of $600 a year by 2025, the government’s strategy said, adding that online shopping should account for 10% of Vietnam’s total retail sales of goods and services by then.
Turnover in e-commerce was valued at around $12 billion in 2019, according to media reports.
($1 = 23,338 dong)
(Reporting by Khanh Vu; Editing by Ed Davies)