The Boston Consulting Group recently evaluated the Internet economy in the top 20 global economies to determine how online business drives economic activity. In the U.S., the Internet represents 4.7 percent of 2010 GDP, which corresponds to some $684 billion in economic activity. The U.K. topped the list; there, the Internet comprises 8.3 percent of GDP.
These figures are impressive, but Mashable notes that they don't include factors such as the "research online, buy offline" phenomenon, which accounts for some 7.8 percent of G-20 consumer spending and would drive these percentages up considerably. In the G-20 alone, each of these connected consumers adds $900 of economic activity.
The Boston Consulting Group predicts that the Internet economy will continue to grow through 2016. In the G-20, the growth projection is 10 percent each year, while it's expected to grow about 8 percent annually stateside. The biggest rates of growth, according to the firm, will be in developing countries: Argentina is projected to grow 24 percent annually, while India is expected to grow 23 percent.
What factors do you think will shape the growth of the Internet economy in developed countries like the U.S. and the U.K.?
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(Photo credit: Boston Consulting Group/Mashable)
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