From bricks to clicks: the economy's big shift

The interneteconomyjust crossed a new threshold that few saw coming this fast. The global digitaleconomyis now valued at over $20 trillion, and depending on whose model you trust, that number could hit $28 trillion before the year is out. IDCA research puts the digitaleconomyat roughly 17.3 per cent of world GDP, translatingtojust over $20 trillion of the world's $119 trillion nominal output.

But the Saudi-led digital cooperation organisation's latest forecast is more aggressive. The organisation projects the digitaleconomywill reach $28 trillion in 2026, or 22 per cent of global GDP, growing three times faster than the overall globaleconomy.

Both figures tell the same story

Digital is no longer just a sector; it's theeconomy's core operating layer. The United States is the clearest signal of thisshift. Business applications are up over 17 per cent year-on-year in 2026. Last year saw 5.62 million applications filed, up 8.2 per centfrom2024.

That's not stimulus-driven noise. That's a structural, low-barrier, and AI-assisted entrepreneurship boom where anyone with a laptop can launch a shopfront, a content business, or a service brand overnight.

The political undercurrent matterstoo. Cybersecurity has emerged as the single most consequential trend for 2026, as AI-driven risks and quantum-era threats reshape how governments and firms defend digital infrastructure.

Whoever controls compute, data flows, and digital trust rules will control the next phase of global economic power. The takeaway: this isn't incremental growth but a redistribution of where value gets created, awayfromphysical capital andtowards platforms, code, and individual creators. Over 200 million people now build livelihoods online. The brick-and-mortareconomyisn't dying, but it's being absorbed by AI.