Comments on: ASEAN average per capita GDP more than triple that of China’s – Singapore emerges as regional financial center

By: Chris Devonshire-Ellis

Chris Devonshire-Ellis — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 08:20:00 +0000

Timbo – we already pointed out India is not a member of ASEAN.

Jing – I realise the ASEAN figures include Brunei and Singapore. But China’s include Hong Kong & Shanghai. We’ve listed them as they are and expect our readers to be able to see the exceptions themselves. So which ones do you strip out ? That depends on what data you want to extract and for what specific purpose. Jetro do a good job, and if you want different perspectives on the statistics then you can strip out the data you don’t need and reach the conclusions you are looking for. Or you can hire them yourself with a full brief for your needs.

Either way, the data shows the China story is spilling over big time into neighbouring states. Collectively they are now a challenge to China. Make of that what you will, but I say it’s gives manufacturers and salesmen more options. – Chris

By: Timbo

Timbo — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 17:54:47 +0000

Damn! Chris, you’re either pretty bad at math, or reading reports, or both.
ASEAN with a population of 566 million and GDP in PPP terms is 2.1 trillion, per capita gdp is $3700. For China, PPP GDP is 7 trillion with a pop of 1.3b, per capita gdp is 5300. These are the latest figures from CIA World factbook with the new PPP calculations. Same pattern if you go by the old PPP figures. If you are comparing per capita GDP in nominal terms, ASEAN also lags behind China by some 20%.

OH, BTW, India is not a member of ASEAN. If you throw India’s numbers in there, it will dilute the ASEAN’s per capita figure even more.

By: Jing

Jing — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 20:27:51 +0000

Jesus H. Christ, I would have thought a lawyer would at least attempt some basic numeracy and use a dash of logic (then again, this flies in the face of all the lawyer jokes). The Jetro figure is so overly encompassing that it is absolutely useless. The problem with the average per capita GDP the Jetro goofballs report is that it incorporates Singapore and Brunei, two extremely wealthy mini-states, with much larger and poorer neighboring states and assigns them equal impact irrespective of population. This should have been self-evident at first glance.

This is the same as saying that the average per capita income of everyone in a bar Bill Gates walks into is suddenly in the millions. Technically true, but entirely unwise.

By: Ram Divani

Ram Divani — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 06:34:08 +0000

Pffeffer, for regional economic comparison purposes China and India are always included in ASEAN data by the research houses. Without them it doesn’t give the full picture.

By: Nazia Vasi

Nazia Vasi — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 01:43:03 +0000

India like China is not a part of the ASEAN countries, nonetheless it is a full dialogue partner. It however is a part of ASEAN + 4, which includes China, Japan, Korea and India.

By: Pffefer

Pffefer — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 18:27:10 +0000

When did India become part of ASEAN? It is official?

I guess without India ASEAN’s GDP per capita would further surge ahead that of China’s as I assume India is just like China which has a booming middle class and the vast majority are poor.

By: Ravi Nassumi

Ravi Nassumi — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 06:50:26 +0000

I didn’t realise the ASEAN GDP was so high now…but with several booming economies all together it makes sense. Its like a ‘Super-China’. Interesting. Only parts of China are booming,the rural areas are quiet, and relatively poor. ASEAN has far more mature cities and more developing up and coming ones.

By: Chris Devonshire-Ellis

Chris Devonshire-Ellis — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 06:25:21 +0000

Thank you Jennifer – and a happy weekend to all our readers – Chris

By: Jennifer Lancey

Jennifer Lancey — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 04:44:19 +0000

I found your site on technorati and read a few of your other posts. Keep up the good work. I just added your RSS feed to my Google News Reader. Looking forward to reading more from you.

Jennifer Lancey

By: Oh Shanghai, where art thou? | China Briefing News

Oh Shanghai, where art thou? | China Briefing News — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 04:43:21 +0000

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