Capturing the Digital Economy—A Proposed Measurement Framework and Its Applications: A Special Supplement to Key Indicators for Asia and the Pacific 2021

Abstract

This publication sets out a framework for measuring the importance of the digital economy in national and global production processes. Amid the growing interest in the digitalization of socioeconomic activities, there is a lack of consensus on an established framework to estimate the digital economy. This report proposes a definition of the core digital economy and an input-output analytical framework to measure it. Applying this framework to selected economies and years, it finds that the digital economy and digitally dependent industries contribute a significant portion of gross domestic product. It examines key digital economy phenomena and trends in relation to sectoral links, temporal price changes, jobs, global value chains, the COVID-19 pandemic, and Industry 4.0.