What is the Indian Internet Economy Worth?

India's Internet economy growth rate of 23 percent places it as the second fastest across the G-20 and ahead of many other developing nations in the G-20, which are growing at an average of 17.8 percent. Projected growth rates for other countries are: 24.3 percent in Argentina, 18.3 percent in Russia and 15.6 percent in Mexico. In 2010 developed markets contributed 76 percent of the G-20's Internet economy; by 2016 that will fall to 66 percent.

Arvind Subramanian, a Mumbai-based BCG Partner said “Consumption is the principal driver of Internet GDP in most countries, typically representing more than 50 percent of the total in 2010. It will remain the largest single driver through 2016. China and India stand out for their enormous Internet related exports- China in goods, India in services – which propel their internet-economy rankings toward the top of the chart.”  He further added, “In emerging countries like India, social media are fast becoming the internet medium and mobile the access medium of choice."

In 2010, the share of total retail carried out online in India was only 0.9 percent but is projected to reach 4.5 percent by 2016. What's more, the Internet influences only an additional 0.8 percent of total retail from connected consumers researching online and purchasing offline ('ROPO'). These numbers compare to 3.1 percent for online sales and 4.0 percent for ROPO in Brazil, 1.7 percent and 4.8 percent in Russia, and 5.0 percent and 9.6 percent in the U.S.