The Metaverse has the potential to generate an additional $800 billion to $1.4 trillion to Asia’s gross domestic product (GDP) per year by 2035, growing into a market worth up to $13 trillion annually by 2030, according to a recent report by international consultancy Deloitte.

The report, entitled The Metaverse in Asia: Strategies for Accelerating Economic Impact, provides an in-depth evaluation of the economic opportunities the Metaverse presents for 12 of the region’s countries and territories: mainland China and Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.

“The potential impact of the metaverse on Asia and globally could be significant if investments are made into fundamental and enabling factors. Though investments made in the next five to ten years may not have immediate short-run returns on output, these investments will likely play out over a longer time frame as the technologies mature,” according to the report.

“Using early estimates on the potential metaverse investments from the literature, we estimate that the impact of the metaverse to GDP in Asia could be between US$0.8 trillion - US$1.4 trillion per year by 2035, roughly 1.3-2.4% of overall GDP per year by 2035.1 However, the development path of this nascent technology still remains uncertain,” the consultancy said.

By 2035, the Metaverse’s impact on the Asian economies could reach between 1.4% and 2.4% of the region’s total GDP, Deloitte stated.

“These impacts have ramifications across many sectors, not just in entertainment and gaming. Retail, e-commerce, and manufacturing processes can be radically transformed. Innovations in healthcare and education will not only create economic value, they may also improve well-being and the human condition,” according to the study.

As an increasing number of major companies are expanding their online presence to the metaverse, international consultancy McKinsey & Co. believes that annual global spending linked to the virtual world could reach up to $5 trillion by 2030. Analysis by Gartner Inc. corroborates that the metaverse is the next big innovation in tech. The firm expects that, within just a few years, one in four people will spend at least an hour per day in the metaverse.