In the 13 countries that collectively represent about 70% of global GDP, the mobile internet is already generating some $700 billion in revenues annually, The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) estimates.
The GDP contribution is the equivalent of $780 per adult in the markets, and the opportunities afforded by the mobile internet have created employment for about 3 million people, the research firm said.
The 13 countries surveyed are Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
The Google-commissioned report shows that by 2017, mobile internet revenues will have grown to $1.55 trillion across these countries, an annual increase of 23%.
The single largest contributor to mobile internet revenue growth in the next several years will be the apps, content, and services component of the ecosystem, driven by the rapid expansion of mobile shopping and advertising.
The report also noted that revenues are growing especially quickly in developing markets. Revenues in India are growing at 40% a year, for example, and in China and Brazil they are growing at an annual rate of 25 percent (comparable to the United Sates and the EU5).
Even in most mature mobile markets, such as Japan and South Korea, mobile internet revenues are growing at 10% a year, much faster than overall GDP.
Consumers are by far the biggest beneficiaries of the mobile internet. On a per capita basis in the 13-country sample, the average consumer surplus—the perceived value that consumers themselves believe they receive over and above what they pay for devices, applications, services, and access—is about $4,000 a year, or seven times what consumers pay for devices and access.