11-05-2026 
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- Digital economy deepening through acceleration of digital payments and sustainable monetization
- AI adoption and increasing usage have potential to grow with policy support, evolving Filipino user behavior
- Long-term AI and digital growth in the Philippines remains promising
Manila, PHILIPPINES, November 3, 2026 – The Philippines’ digital economy is on track to grow and hit $42 billion in gross merchandise value (GMV) by the end of 2026, a 15 percent year-on-year growth from $36 billion in 2025, and also currently projected to reach as high as $157 billion by 2035, according to the 11th annual e-Conomy SEA report released by Google, Temasek, and Bain & Company.
This year’s report, titled “Building the Intelligent Economy,” found that the Philippines’ digital economy is continuing to accelerate, increasingly helped by AI adoption and usage as a growth lever. Despite geopolitical and macroeconomic headwinds, there is an optimistic outlook for the long-term growth of AI and the digital industry, especially with policy support in the 2026 launch of the National AI Center for Research and Innovation, new National Privacy Commission frameworks, and the Internet Transactions Act, as well as the evolution of the behavior of Filipinos.
To measure the true scale of adoption, the report introduces AI usage (quantified in tokens) as the AI equivalent of gross merchandise value. In the Philippines, GenAI has already reached mass-market scale with 53% of the working population actively using standalone GenAI platforms, while offering some of the region’s largest headroom for future user and enterprise growth.
Key findings for the Philippines include:
1. AI adoption and consumer trust are scaling fast
42 million Filipinos now use GenAI, generating 55 billion annual AI queries (and around 65 million monthly AI users when the use of embedded AI is included), and one in four AI users in the Philippines interact with AI tools every day. Consumer confidence is also rising fast: one in two trust AI more than they did in the previous year, and seven out of 10 users are willing to delegate their purchase decisions to the insight of AI.
2. High-value professional use cases lead, with significant headroom to deepen engagement
While broad adoption has taken off, there remains a substantial opportunity to deepen everyday AI engagement. Although 33 percent of consumer journeys in the Philippines begin with AI, Filipinos currently average around 1.87 AI sessions per week and 13 million consumer tokens per GenAI user. Reflecting the country’s strong English proficiency, most Filipinos prefer conversing with AI in English, with local-language prompts accounting for 21% of conversations. Notably, Filipinos stand out across Southeast Asia for creative and professional applications: Gemini prompts for customer support content are nearly three times (3X) the regional average.
The dominant use cases remain in the creative and professional fields – the top five uses of AI are, in order, study, work, health, online shopping, and entertainment – and consumer applications account for around 80 percent of AI usage in the Philippines.
3. Online sectors continue to grow
In the Philippines, the GMV growth is mainly driven by the growth of the ecommerce, online travel, and online media sectors. Ecommerce has grown 15 percent year-on-year to $28 billion in 2026, while online travel and online media are accelerating, growing 14 percent to $3 billion (versus 9 percent in the previous year) and 26 percent to $6 billion (versus 23 percent) respectively. Meanwhile, mobility and food also grew two percent year-on-year to $4 billion, and is projected to reach $7 billion by 2030 and $11 billion by 2035.
4. Digital payments are driving digital financial services
The expansion of digital financial services continues on the strength of digital payments, whose growth surged to 23 percent YoY in 2026 to hit $194 billion in gross transaction value – the fastest growth in Southeast Asia. This is supported by national digital ID scaling, InstaPay for Business, and the merger of BancNet and the Philippine Clearing House Corporation (PCHC) to streamline payment interoperability.
Digital lending also grew to $7 billion in loan book balance, a 17 percent year-on-year growth rate from $6 billion in 2025, and projected to reach $31 billion by 2035. Meanwhile, digital insurance grew to $110 million in annual premium equivalent and gross written premiums, a growth of 16 percent year on year, tying with Vietnam for the fastest-growing digital insurance sector in Southeast Asia.
“The Philippines’ digital economy continues to show remarkable resilience and momentum as it proves its unstoppable growth once again this year. What is especially exciting is the rapidly growing trust and adoption of AI among Filipinos—with over half of the working population actively using AI tools to streamline work and daily life. As user confidence deepens and local AI use cases expand, strong policy support and collaborative ecosystem development will be key to unlocking the full potential of the Philippine digital economy,” said Prep Palacios, Google Philippines Country Manager.
“Filipinos are embracing AI quickly, with 53% of the working population already using GenAI. But we are still early in the journey, and there is significant headroom for growth. The next chapter is about depth, turning what is occasional use today into everyday workflows that will truly benefit Filipino individuals and businesses. With the National AI Center for Research and Innovation rolling out this year and National Privacy Commission frameworks supporting responsible adoption, the Philippines is well positioned to make that shift. Doing so can cement the country’s place among SEA’s fastest-growing AI markets,” said Bennett Aquino, Partner, Bain & Company.
Download the full e-Conomy SEA 2026 Report here.
About Google
Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful. Through products and platforms like Search, Gemini, Maps, Gmail, Android, Google Play, Google Cloud, Chrome and YouTube, Google plays a meaningful role in the daily lives of billions of people. Google is a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc.
About Temasek
Temasek is a global investment company headquartered in Singapore, with a net portfolio value of S$518 billion (US$401b, €350b, £304b, RMB2.77t) as at 31 March 2026. Its Purpose “So Every Generation Prospers” guides it to make a difference for today’s and future generations. Temasek seeks to build a resilient and forward-looking portfolio that will deliver good sustainable returns over the long term.
Temasek has 13 offices in 9 countries around the world: Beijing, Hanoi, Mumbai, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Singapore in Asia; and Brussels, London, Mexico City, New York, Paris, San Francisco, and Washington, DC outside Asia.
About Bain & Company
Bain & Company works with leaders worldwide to solve their toughest challenges and deliver enduring results. Since 1973, we’ve partnered with clients, including private equity and portfolio companies, to build the capabilities they need to stay ahead of change and help them redefine their industries. We measure our success by our clients’ success, and we proudly hold the highest levels of client advocacy in our field.
Bain is consistently recognized globally as one of the best places to work. We operate as one global team, uniting strategists, industry and functional experts, technologists, and advisors with a vibrant ecosystem of technology partners.
