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The economy of Asia is comprised of more than 4,000,750,000 people (60% of the world population), living in 46 different states. In addition to this there are six further states that lie partly in Asia, but are considered to belong to another continent economically and politically.
As in all continents, the wealth of Asia differs widely between, and within, states. This is due to its vast size, meaning a huge range of differing cultures, environments, historical ties and government systems. The largest economy in Asia in terms of GDP is Japan, the smallest Mongolia, (although there is currently no reliable data for either Iraq or North Korea). This demonstrates the huge disparity in wealth on the continent, with Japan being the world's second largest economy, and North Korea being one of the poorest.
The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) is a group of Pacific Rim countries who meet with the purpose of improving economic and political ties. There are currently 22 members.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is a political, economic, and cultural organization of countries located in Southeast Asia. Founded in 1967, its aim is to foster cooperation and mutual assistance among members. The countries meet annually every November in summits.
The current member countries of ASEAN are Myanmar (Burma), Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam, Singapore and Indonesia.
The Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) is an economic agreement between China and both the Hong Kong SAR government (signed on 29 June 2003), and the Macau SAR government (signed on 18 October, 2003), in order to promote trade and investment facilitation.
The main aims of CEPA are to eliminate tariffs and non-tariff barrier on substantially all the trade in goods between the three, and achieve liberalization of trade in services through reduction or elimination of substantially all discriminatory measures.
The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a confederation consisting of 12 of the 15 states of the former Soviet Union, both Asian and European, (the exceptions being the three Baltic states). Although the CIS has few supranational powers, it is more than a purely symbolic organization and possesses coordinating powers in the realm of trade, finance, lawmaking and security. The most significant issue for the CIS is the establishment of a full-fledged free trade zone / economic union between the member states, to be launched in 2005. It has also promoted cooperation on democratisation and cross-border crime prevention.
The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is an association of 7 countries of South Asia, namely Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. These countries comprise an area of 4 480 000 km2 and a fifth of the population of the world.
SAARC encourages cooperation in agriculture, rural development, science and technology, culture, health, population control, narcotics control and anti-terrorism.
The South Asia Free Trade Agreement is an agreement reached at the 12th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation summit. It creates a framework for the creation of a free trade zone covering 1.4 billion people in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan and the Maldives.
Below is a list of the currencies of Asia, including all fully Asian states plus Russia, with exchange rates between each currency and both the Euro and US Dollars as of 31st November 2004.
Table correct as of 31st November 2004
to be completed
to be completed
to be completed
Economy of:
States which lie partly in Asia but are considered, in an economic and political sense, to be European:
States which lie partly in Asia but are considered, in an economic and political sense, to be African: