Southeast Asia's mobile gaming revenues are expected to grow sixfold to over $7 billion in the next five years thanks to smartphones and high-speed Internet access, an industry report said yesterday.

Revenues only crossed the $1 billion mark in 2014 but are expected to rise at a compounded annual growth rate of 48 percent until 2019, making Southeast Asia the fastest-growing region for the industry, business consultancy Frost & Sullivan said.

The growth is being "driven by the rapid increase of broadband users, usage of smart devices and social media," it said in a press statement.

Southeast Asia's more prosperous economies such as Singapore and Malaysia largely account for the bulk of current mobile gaming revenues, but other countries are quickly expanding, the statement added. However, one major impediment to the industry's growth in Southeast Asia is the difficulty in making payments online.