Google South Africa commissioned a study titled The Internet Economic Impact Study, aimed at surveying the contribution the Internet makes to the country’s economy.
The study, carried out by World Wide Worx, involved 2,000 interviews with South African Small and Medium Enterprises (SME).
The total value of the Internet economy in South Africa is R58, 98 Billion, according to Arthur Goldstuck, Managing Director of World Wide Worx.
This represents a 2 percent contribution to South Africa’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) signaling a great potential for the Internet economy to grow in South Africa.
Some highlights from the presentation are:
• Online Advertising only contributes R1,52 Billion to the internet economy.
• Business to Customer (B2C) e-commerce market was R11.5 Billion with online air tickets sales contributing R8,9 Billion to this market.
• Approximately 410,000 SMEs have websites and they employ an estimated 1.56 Million people.
Goldstuck said the number of Internet users in South Africa is in addition expected to grow rapidly given the rise in use of smartphones in the country. An estimated 10 million mobile phones are sold in South Africa each year
