McKinsey on economic gains from the Internet

A group at the McKinsey Global Institute has published: “Internet matters: The Net’s sweeping impact on growth, jobs, and prosperity.”  They look at the 13 economies that together make up 70 percent of the world economy. Here are a few highlights:


“Internet-related consumption and expenditure is now bigger than agriculture or energy, and our research shows that the Internet accounts for, on average, 3.4 percent of GDP in the 13 countries we studied. ... The Internet's total contribution to the GDP is bigger than the GDP of Spain or Canada, and it is growing faster than Brazil.” 

 “[I]n the mature countries we studied, the Internet accounted for 10 percent of GDP growth over the past 15 years. … And over the past five years, the Internet’s contribution to GDP growth in these countries doubled to 21 percent.

 “[A] simulation shows that an increase in Internet maturity similar to the one experienced in mature countries over the past 15 years creates an increase in real per capita GDP of $500 during this period. It took the Industrial Revolution of the 19^th century 50 years to achieve the same results.”

"[A] detailed analysis of the French economy showed that while the Internet has destroyed 500,000 jobs over the past 15 years, it has created 1.2 million others, a net addition of 700,000 jobs or 2.4 jobs created for every job destroyed. This conclusion is supported by McKinsey's global SME [small and medium enterprise] survey, which found 2.6 jobs were created for every one destroyed."

“In total, the consumer surplus generated by the Internet in 2009 ranged from  €7 billion ($10 billion) in France to €46 billion ($64 billion) in the United States.”

"The United States captures more than 30 percent of global Internet revenues and more than 40 percent of net income."