Thailand is among the countries expected to lead the growth of online shopping in Asia Pacific as internet penetration rates shoot up and income levels rise. According to MasterCard, while Thailand has one of the lowest internet penetration rates in the region - only 13% of the population in 2007, compared with the highest rate of 75.9% in Australia - the rate is expected to climb as internet use rises and infrastructure is developed.

Thailand's internet penetration rate is forecast to reach 27.9% by 2010, when the country's online shopping population - only 3.6 million in 2007 - is expected to rise to 10.5 million people.

China and India are predicted to lead the region's online shopping growth. China's online shopping population is forecast to leap to 480.4 million people in 2010, up from 147.1 million last year. India's online shoppers are set to soar to 203.1 million from 28.1 million.

This trend is likely to be supported by a huge increase in internet penetration in the two countries. Online shopping in emerging countries is also set to be propelled by rising incomes, rapidly growing upper-middle-income urban elites and an increase in domestic consumption due to sustained growth.

Garth Viegas, MasterCard Worldwide's senior business leader for marketing intelligence and planning, said regional online shopping growth over the next 20 to 25 years would be led by emerging markets like China, India and Thailand.

He added that China is expected to overtake the United States this year in its volume of internet transactions.

''Asia's e-commerce sales have an anticipated annual sales growth of 23.3%,'' said Mr Viegas.

Thailand's online shopping revenue is expected to rise from $5.9 billion in 2007 to $20.8 billion in 2010; China's from $297.8 billion to $1.416 trillion; India's from $70.8 billion to $734.3 billion.

Japan, currently the region's largest market with 62% of its online sales, is likely to lose its ranking as the emerging markets of China and India develop.

Online shopping rates in mature markets like Japan, Australia and Singapore are likely to rise only slightly. For instance, Japan's online shopping population is forecast to edge up from 72.7 million in 2007 to 75.1 million in 2010.

The MasterCard survey was conducted between Dec 18 and 28 2007 in eight countries on a sample of 4,157.