Digital Economy Trends 2025

December 2024

The Digital Economy Trends (DET) 2025 Report explores 18 transformative trends shaping industries, societies, and governance at an unprecedented pace. These trends are grouped under three themes: Sustainable Intelligent Ecosystems, Empowered Communities, and Trust and Security, offering a framework to understand the evolving digital economy.

Based on insights from the DET Survey 2025, which engaged 300 senior technologists, 60 policymakers, and 40 digital economy experts, the report categorizes trends into two groups: 12 current trends, already impacting stakeholders and expected to accelerate within the next 12–18 months; and 6 emerging trends, with disruptive potential over the next 3–5 years.

The DET framework identifies critical enablers essential for accelerating the digital economy trends, inspired by the DCO Digital Economy Navigator (DEN). These enablers include digital infrastructure, digital capabilities, regulation, finance, and innovation, supported by foundational technologies such as AI, IoT, blockchain, and cybersecurity.

The Digital Economy Trends 2025 report highlights the importance of multi-stakeholder collaboration to address challenges like ethical innovation, equitable access, and public-private partnerships. Decisions made by governments, businesses, and civil society will shape business models, consumer behavior, innovation processes, and global digital trade.

By aligning the trends with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the report provides actionable insights and a roadmap for fostering an inclusive, safe, and sustainable digital economy. The DET 2025 Report emphasizes that leveraging these trends requires forward-thinking strategies to drive global innovation, collaboration, and shared prosperity.