Asia-Pacific region becomes biggest contributor to global GDP: ADB

MANILA -- The Asia and Pacific region has become the biggest contributor to global gross domestic product (GDP), reaching a 34.9 percent share in 2019 from 26.3 percent in 2000, according to a new Asian Development Bank (ADB) report released on Thursday.

"The Asia and Pacific region has made tremendous development progress over the last two decades, becoming the biggest contributor to global GDP while lifting millions of people out of poverty," ADB Chief Economist Yasuyuki Sawada said in a statement.

Key Indicators 2020, the latest edition of ADB's annual statistical report for Asia and the Pacific, presents a comprehensive set of economic, financial, social, and environmental indicators, including the sustainable development goals (SDGs), for ADB's 49 regional members covering the years from 2000 to 2019.

The report says the region's economies received more than one-third of total global direct investment in 2019, while the region's global export share increased to 36.5 percent in 2019 from 28.4 percent in 2000.

More than half of the reporting economies in the region recorded a GDP growth rate of 4 percent or higher in 2019, adds the report.

However, the report warns that these gains are threatened by the COVID-19 pandemic, with unemployment rising and income falling as lockdowns cause steep reductions in business operations and people's activities in general.

The Key Indicators Database, first launched in September 2019, offers access to more than 1,100 statistical indicators from the year 2000 onwards in a user-friendly and accessible interface.

Established in 1966, ADB is owned by 68 members -- 49 from the region.