Hong Kong continues to be the world’s most ‘connected’ population in 2016

Singapore and Australia maintain their second and third ranking in the Asia Pacific region

Singapore – The new GfK Connected Consumer Index is a ranking of 78 countries and eight world regions that provides fast and direct comparison of how highly connected each population is.

The index shows which countries have the world’s most connected consumers, both overall and in detail across each of eleven different device types (smartphone, tablet, mobile PC, desktop PC, wearables, smart TV, TV set-top box, videogame console, e-reader, connected car and smart home), together with trends over the last five years.

It allows businesses to compare how connected the individual countries and regions are, in order to spot market opportunities across a range of industries. This includes areas stretching from digiital device sales and content consumption to expansion of traditional technology into health and media and beyond.

Top ten most “connected” populations in the world

Looking at the GfK Connected Consumer Index ranking for the last two years, Hong Kong and North America (USA, Canada and Mexico) hold steady as having the world’s top two most highly connected populations.

However, people in the United Arab Emirates are fast closing in on that lead, jumping from eighth place in 2015 to a forecasted third place this year. Similarly, Switzerland has overtaken Denmark and Sweden to move up from tenth place last year to a forecasted eighth place this year.

Performance of Asia Pacific countries

Hong Kong maintains its status as the world’s most connected population again in 2016, with Singapore and Australia trailing at second and third placing in the Asia Pacific region and 13th and 17th respectively on a global level. Except for Vietnam which managed to climb two spots—from 61 last year to 59 this year, all other markets either maintained or fell in ranking. Most significantly, Japan descended by 10 spots to 30th ranking globally; falling below Taiwan this year. South Korea also dropped to 38 from 31.

Key market drivers

“In the emerging APAC region, the high level of smartphone adoption has been the key driver propelling connectivity in the countries, as this is the primary device—and often the first device—for consumers to connect to data services,” commented Stanley Kee, Managing Director for Southeast Asia at GfK.

“This trend is likely to remain dominant for the next two to three years as pricing reductions means smartphones will become even more affordabe and within reach of increasing number of consumers who will be able to own and connect with a personal device for the first time,” he added.

“As for the developed markets such as Hong Kong and Singapore, the growth drivers have already moved to the next wave of consumer connectivity—wearables are now the ‘in-thing’, together with connected cars and both these are providing new consumer benefits. Smart home technology is an equally significant opportunity, but expected to be slower and steadier in terms of the consumer adoption curve.”

Kee concluded, “As technology continues to evolve and mature at their own pace in individual markets, we are increasingly seeing that local country drivers are having a relatively bigger impact on growth, as opposed to global or regional trends – with consumers connecting in ever bigger numbers and different ways.”