BizResearch: Statistical Yearbook for Asia and the Pacific

28 April 2009

Statistical Yearbook for Asia and the Pacific

This is the second issue of the Statistical Yearbook for Asia and the Pacific. The yearbook produced by the United Nations’ regional arm – The Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), presents statistical data that provides a detailed picture of the major economic, social and environmental trends over the past two decades, as well as cross-cutting issues such as poverty and gender. The Asia-Pacific region is home to 4.1 billion people – more than 60% of the world’s population. This region has enjoyed robust economic growth with its middle-income economies, reaching a remarkable growth rate of 9.1% in 2007

Other Highlights from the report:

The internationalization of Asia-Pacific companies is evident in the UNCTAD list of the top 100 non-financial transnational corporations from developing countries. During the period 2000-2006, merchandise exports from Asia and the Pacific grew annually by 12.9%. The leading exporters were China and Japan. But the economies trading most intensively were the smaller ones, such as Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong, China, where exports exceeded GDP.

Despite volatile oil prices, most countries continued to increase their total primary energy consumption. Of this, 80% came from fossil fuels and the remainder predominantly from nuclear power, hydropower and traditional fuels, such as wood and animal dung.

Rising energy consumption has also increased greenhouse gas emissions – currently some 12 billion tons annually – though emissions per capita remain relatively low at 3.2 tons per person per year. The largest emitters are the middle-income economies, such as China, the Russian Federation, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia. The region also contributes 50% of global emissions of sulphur dioxide, mainly from burning fossil fuels, especially coal.

The full report can be downloaded from the ESCAP website.

Picture from Creative Commons: Flickr: Josh Essen