It was just a matter of time before we continued our GDP ranking series by moving into Asia, and now, Political Calculations has completed sorting through all the Gross Domestic Product (adjusted for Purchasing Power Parity) and population estimates for the nations of Asia in 2004 to produce the following dynamic table that you can sort through yourself by clicking any of the column headings! Doing so will automatically rearrange the data in the table from highest to lowest, richest to poorest, and vice-versa according to the category you select.
Update (9 January 2005): A sharp-eyed reader noted that I missed including Indonesia in the rankings - they're there now!
| 2004 GDP-PPP, Population and GDP-PPP per Capita for Asia |
|---|
| Country | GDP-PPP (billions $USD) | Population (2004 est.) | GDP-PPP per Capita ($USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Afghanistan | 21.5 | 28513677 | 754 |
| Azerbaijan | 30.0 | 7868385 | 3814 |
| Bahrain | 13.0 | 677886 | 19192 |
| Bangladesh | 275.7 | 141340476 | 1951 |
| Bhutan | 2.9 | 2185569 | 1327 |
| Brunei | 6.8 | 365251 | 18732 |
| Burma | 74.3 | 42720196 | 1739 |
| Cambodia | 27.0 | 13363421 | 2020 |
| China | 7262.0 | 1298847624 | 5591 |
| Gaza Strip | 0.8 | 1324991 | 580 |
| Georgia | 14.5 | 4693892 | 3078 |
| Hong Kong | 234.5 | 6855125 | 34208 |
| India | 3319.0 | 1065070607 | 3116 |
| Indonesia | 827.4 | 238452952 | 3470 |
| Iran | 516.7 | 69018924 | 7486 |
| Iraq | 54.4 | 25374691 | 2144 |
| Israel | 129.0 | 6199088 | 20810 |
| Japan | 3745.0 | 127333002 | 29411 |
| Jordan | 25.5 | 5611202 | 4544 |
| Kazakhstan | 118.4 | 15143704 | 7818 |
| Korea, North | 40.0 | 22697553 | 1762 |
| Korea, South | 925.1 | 48598175 | 19036 |
| Kuwait | 48.0 | 2257549 | 21262 |
| Kyrgyzstan | 8.5 | 5081429 | 1672 |
| Laos | 11.3 | 6068117 | 1859 |
| Lebanon | 18.8 | 3777218 | 4985 |
| Macau | 9.1 | 445286 | 20436 |
| Mongolia | 5.3 | 2751314 | 1938 |
| Nepal | 39.5 | 27070666 | 1460 |
| Oman | 38.1 | 2903165 | 13120 |
| Pakistan | 347.3 | 159196336 | 2182 |
| Philippines | 430.6 | 86241697 | 4993 |
| Qatar | 19.5 | 840290 | 23194 |
| Saudi Arabia | 310.2 | 25795938 | 12025 |
| Singapore | 120.9 | 4353893 | 27768 |
| Sri Lanka | 80.6 | 19905165 | 4048 |
| Syria | 60.4 | 18016874 | 3355 |
| Taiwan | 576.2 | 22749838 | 25328 |
| Tajikistan | 8.0 | 7011556 | 1134 |
| Thailand | 524.8 | 64965523 | 8078 |
| Turkey | 508.7 | 68893918 | 7384 |
| Turkmenistan | 27.6 | 4863169 | 5675 |
| United Arab Emirates | 63.7 | 2523915 | 25227 |
| Uzbekistan | 47.6 | 26410416 | 1802 |
| Vietnam | 227.2 | 82689518 | 2748 |
| West Bank | 1.8 | 2311204 | 779 |
| Yemen | 16.3 | 20024867 | 811 |
| Asia (All) | 21213.4 | 3865405252 | 5488 |
The Richest and Poorest Nations of Asia
The richest nations of Asia are unchanged from Political Calculations' 2002 rankings according to GDP-PPP per capita, with Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore continuing to occupy the top three tiers. What is different is that Hong Kong has surged past Japan to take the top ranking (since Political Calculations' previous 2002 analysis), clearly benefitting from its close ties to mainland China and that nation's substantial economic growth as Hong Kong becomes more integrated into its parent nation's economy.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, the poorest nation in Asia is represented by the Gaza Strip, which is followed by Afghanistan and then by the West Bank. In fact, if the Palestinian territories of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank are combined into a single entity, it would represent the poorest nation in all of Asia, with a combined 2004 GDP-PPP of $2.6 billion USD, an estimated population of 3,636,195 people (as of July, 2004) and a corresponding GDP-PPP per capita of $706 USD.
Data Sources:
Why 2004 data? Well, since 2005 just ended, the data for that year is still only in the estimate stage, and may be subject to considerable revision - the 2004 data is the most recent "stable" data available! The following links will take you where Political Calculations found the data presented in the table above:
GDP-PPP Data: 2004 GDP-PPP Data for Individual Nations
Population Data: July 2004 Population Estimates
GSP and GDP per Capita: This data was calculated by simply dividing the published GDP-PPP data by each nation's population estimate for July 2004.
Previously on Political Calculations
2004 Economic and Population Data
- European Union 2004 GDP Rankings
- GDP in Africa: 2004
- GDP Rankings of the Americas: 2004 Edition
- EU vs US: Two Years of Economic Data Later....