The combined economy of Asia and the Pacific is the third largest in the world after Europe and North America and is the fastest growing region in the world.
Gross domestic product (GDP) has been on the rise at increasing rates in Asia and the Pacific since 1990 and is currently at over US$ 10 trillion dollars. The only other region where there is such a steady upward trend is Africa, which recorded a 5.3 per cent average annual growth rate in 2006, not far behind the 5.7 per cent of Asia and the Pacific. The GDP level for Africa, however, is the smallest among world regions, at less than US$ 900 billion, or 2.5 per cent of global GDP.
Figure 14.1 Index of change in GDP in the regions of the world, 1990-2006
Central Asia grew at an impressive rate of 12.4 per cent in 2006, making it the lead Asian and Pacific subregion in economic growth. GDP growth for ASEAN, on the other hand, was a more moderate 5.9 per cent in 2006. The low- and middle-income economies grew at an average annual growth rate of 8.5 per cent, while the high-income economies grew at 3.3 per cent.
There were 10 countries or areas in Asia and the Pacific that grew at a rate over 9 per cent in 2006. Azerbaijan recorded a striking growth rate of 34.5 per cent, followed by the Maldives at 21.7 per cent. Macao, China, had a growth rate of 16.6 per cent in 2006. Afghanistan, China and Kazakhstan grew at around 11 percent while India, Georgia, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan all had growth rates of about 9 per cent.
North America and Europe have the highest per capita GDP levels, followed by Latin America and the Caribbean and Asia and the Pacific. Africa has the lowest level of per capita GDP at US$ 967; just a fraction of the North American level at US$ 30,369 in 2006. As in the case of total per capita GDP growth, Asia and the Pacific had the highest growth rate for per capita GDP at 4.6 per cent.
Figure 14.2 GDP growth rate in Asia and the Pacific, 1990 and 2006
Figure 14.3 Asian and Pacific countries/areas with GDP per capita above that of the Asian and Pacific regional average, 2006
Figure 14.4 Gross domestic investment (GDI) rate for selected Asian and Pacific country/area groupings, 1990 and 2006
In terms of per capita GDP levels measured at 2000 purchasing power parity (PPP), however, Asia and the Pacific is the fourth largest region in the world, at US$ 6,156 according to 2006 data; it is ahead of only Africa. Apart from the developed countries in the region, there are 13 countries or areas with per capita GDP level above the regional average. Macao, China, and Hong Kong, China, along with Singapore have per capita GDP levels that are six- and fivefold that of the Asian and Pacific region. The per capita GDP level of the Republic of Korea is three times the regional average.
The contribution of domestic investment to GDP growth has been volatile with an overall decreasing trend throughout the past 16 years. Figure 14.5 depicts the evolution of gross domestic investment (GDI) in the world regions.
Figure 14.5 Gross domestic investment (GDI) rate for the regions of the world, 1990-2006
Among country groupings, only the least developed countries and SAARC countries have increased the share of domestic investment in GDP between 1990 and 2006. In terms of country income groupings, only the low-income economies have a growing GDP share of GDI.
As the components of GDP grow at different rates, so do different sectors. Value added by sector as a percentage of GDP and the change in value added are two indicators that provide information on the growth patterns of different economic activities.
In all regions of the world, the highest value added is in services followed by industry and agriculture. In Asia and the Pacific, the value added in services is at over 50 per cent of GDP for 2006. This is the case for all other regions, with North America leading at 71.3 per cent, except for Africa, where the value added in this sector remains at 43.5 per cent. North America has the lowest value added in the industry, at 26.6 per cent, while Asia and the Pacific has the highest, at 38.9 per cent. North America records the lowest value added also for agriculture, at 2.2 per cent. The value added in agriculture as a share of GDP in Africa is the highest, at 20 per cent.
The value added in the three sectors as a percentage of GDP follows the same pattern as the region in all Asian and Pacific country groupings except for the least developed countries. In this group, the value added in agriculture, at 29.8 per cent, supersedes that in industry, which stands at 25.3 per cent. The middle-income economies, on the other hand, had the largest value added in industry, at 51.2 per cent, followed by services, at 35.1 per cent of GDP. Agriculture in these economies had a value added of 13.7 per cent of GDP.
Figure 14.6 Value added by sector for the regions of the world, 2006
In Hong Kong, China, and Macao, China, the value added in services is around 90 per cent of GDP, while the value added in agriculture is minuscule. In Singapore, the value added in services is about 70 per cent, similarly with an insignificant value added in agriculture.
The average annual value added grew in every sector all around the world except for agriculture in North America, which fell by 2.7 per cent in 2006. Despite the case of North America and the fact that the value added in agriculture makes up a small part of the GDP in most parts of the world, this sector has seen the highest growth rates in terms of value added. In Latin America and the Caribbean, the value added in agriculture grew by 13.7 per cent in 2006, and in Asia and the Pacific this rate was 10.3 per cent, above the world average rate of 7.3 per cent. The largest value added growth rate in industry was again in Latin America and the Caribbean, at 9.1 per cent, nearly twice the world average of 4.6 per cent. The highest growth rate of the value added in services was in Africa, at 4.9 per cent, exceeding the world rate of 3.4 per cent.
All country groupings had the biggest value added growth in agriculture in 2006, except for small island developing States, where industry grew at the highest rate. The services sector was the second fastest growing economic activity in all country groupings, excluding ASEAN and landlocked developing countries.
Figure 14.7 Value added by sector for selected Asian and Pacific country/area groupings, 2006 | 
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