Liz Gannes

Recent Posts by Liz Gannes

Report: Internet Economy Set to Nearly Double to $4.2T by 2016

The Internet economy of G-20 nations will nearly double in value to $4.2 trillion by 2016, according to a new projection by the Boston Consulting Group, released at an event with Google today. That’s up from $2.3 trillion in 2010.

It seems that Internet companies are particularly concerned about earning their spots at the World Economic Forum in Davos this year. Earlier this week, Facebook and Deloitte released a more specific (and self-serving) study about the social networking company’s revenue and jobs contributions to the European Union.

There will be three billion Internet users in 2016, or 45 percent of the world’s population, the BCG study estimated. By 2013, there will be more mobile broadband connections than fixed-line connections.

By 2016, China will have 800 million Internet users — as many as France, Germany, India, Japan, the U.K. and the U.S. combined. At that time, its Internet economy will be about the same size as that of the U.S., BCG noted.

BCG highlighted the value of social media in a couple of emerging areas. More than 90 percent of Internet users in Argentina, Brazil, Indonesia and Mexico engage in social media, a higher contingent than in many more-developed markets. Plus, small- and medium-sized businesses with significant Internet presences expect to grow 5 percent faster than those that do not.

(Photo courtesy of World Economic Forum)

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