Annual commercial spending in India grew to an estimated $2.3 trillion in 2007, an increase of 23% from 2006, according to data from the commercial consumption expenditure (CCE) index released by Visa on Thursday. The index also revealed that India is one of the fastest growing Asia Pacific economies in terms of size of total business and government spend. Commercial spending in Asia Pacific grew to an estimated $18.9 trillion in 2007, an increase of 13% from $16.8 trillion in 2006. Global annual commercial spending grew to an estimated $77.3 trillion in 2007, representing an increase of 12.2% from $68.9 trillion in 2006.
Twenty-one economies from countries and territories in the Asia Pacific were measured as part of the CCE index with 16 of those outpacing the average annual growth increase. India ranked third in the top five Asia Pacific economies in terms of size of total business and government spend. “The markets across Asia Pacific are varied in terms of their stages of development and usage of commercial card products. Using the findings from the CCE index developed by Visa, we can better measure the penetration of commercial payment products and assist our client financial institutions in developing solutions tailored to meet the evolving payments needs of business and government,” said John Hazlewood, director, Visa Commercial Solutions, Asia Pacific.
