ByteDance’s global e-commerce push lifts revenue as AI costs mount

ByteDance’s overseas revenue grew by nearly 50% in 2025, far outpacing the roughly 20% increase in its domestic revenue, according to sources familiar with the matter, as reported by 36Kr. The share of revenue from its overseas business rose from 25% in 2024 to more than 30%, a record high.

TikTok’s e-commerce business was the main driver of that growth. TikTok Shop’s gross merchandise value (GMV), increased by nearly 70% year-on-year in 2025, according to the same sources. This growth lifted the share of ByteDance’s overseas revenue and helped TikTok post a substantial profit in 2025. The profit figure was not disclosed.

However, even as overseas operations pushed revenue higher, ByteDance’s net profit fell by more than 70% in 2025. The decline was said to stem from a sharp increase in investment in artificial intelligence in the third and fourth quarters. The higher spending also reduced the company’s net profit margin compared with a year earlier.

36Kr sought comment from a ByteDance representative on these figures but had not received a response at the time of publication.

Over the past year, two issues drew the most attention to ByteDance beyond its operating plans for TikTok in the US: the rapid growth of its international e-commerce business and its increased investment in AI.

On international e-commerce, an earlier report from Jiemian News said TikTok Shop reached 400 million active consumers in 2025, with GMV approaching USD 100 billion. Research firm EchoTik estimated that TikTok Shop’s GMV in the third quarter of 2025 was comparable to that of eBay.

Jiemian News also reported that TikTok Shop’s GMV in overseas markets in December alone exceeded that of Shopee. By region, eMarketer reported that TikTok Shop’s sales in the US rose 108% in 2025.

In Southeast Asia, TikTok Shop has become the second largest player after Shopee and is closing the gap, according to research firm Momentum Works. Latin America and Japan were new markets for TikTok Shop in 2025. In Brazil, GMV reportedly grew about 25 times in the first three months after launch.

On AI investment, sources cited by 36Kr said ByteDance recently told shareholders it expects spending on technical resources to increase further in 2026. Combined with the impact of a newly established data security joint venture in the US, the company’s net profit margin is expected to remain under pressure in the near term.

Earlier reports indicated that ByteDance’s total capital expenditures would rise again this year, with more than half of the increase allocated to infrastructure to support computing demand for training and inference of large models. ByteDance did not comment on that report.

KrASIA features translated and adapted content that was originally published by 36Kr. This article was written by Li Xiaoxia for 36Kr.