Pacific Rim the World Bank

Pacific Rim

The World Bank keeps records of economic indicators from 1960 onwards. It does not have information for North Korea or Taiwan. Statistics for Vietnam were only available beginning in 1984. The first set of data is the GDP in constant 2000 USD (Exhibit A). This chart illustrates a couple of things. First, it indicates how much larger Japan's economy is than any of the other countries. The size of even large economies like Singapore and South Korea is dwarfed by Japan. The People's Republic of China begins to separate itself only in the last 20 years. The other nations, whatever their wealth, have relatively small economies.

Exhibit B. contains the chart for GDP, PPP in constant international $. These figures begin in 1980. This chart illustrates the remarkable growth of the Chinese economy since 1980. China's GDP by PPP is by far the highest in the region. Only Japan and South Korea are relevant on the chart by this measure. The other nations have small GDPs compared to these three and barely register, even the wealthy city-states.

Exhibit C. contains the chart of GDP per capita of the selected Asian nations. This puts the Pacific Rim economic growth into better perspective as it provides a more accurate depiction of national wealth. That much of China remains in poverty is illustrated more clearly with this graph. The wealth of Singapore and Hong Kong also shows clearly. Korea is accurately positioned below the leaders, but well ahead of the smaller economies.

What these charts illustrate is that there has been strong growth in the Asia Pacific economies since 1960, but that this growth is still driven mainly be Japan. China has been a strong driver of growth since 1980, and South Korea has contributed. The wealthy city-states of Hong Kong and Singapore may be among the richest countries in the Pacific Rim, but their overall economies remain small compared with the big three. The other nations in Asia that were charted -- Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam all were noted as being minor economies. They may have seen growth in fifty years, but they remain small economies with relatively low GDP per capita rates. As a result, the conclusion that can be drawn from the data is that Japan remains the most sophisticated economy in the Pacific Rim, with South Korea and China making some contributions to the region's economic relevance. The city-states are valuable contributors, albeit with small economies, and other nations remain peripheral to Asia's economic success story.