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p. 35 of 36 BACK | NEXT Foreword 1. Developing Asia and the world II. Economic trends and prospects in developing Asia III. Developing Asia's imprint on global commodity markets Appendix Statistical notes and tables ADO forecasting performance for GDP growth and inflation

Asian Development Outlook 2006 Update

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Statistical notes and tables

The statistical appendix presents three selected economic indicators for 43 developing member countries (DMCs) of the Asian Development Bank (ADB). These tables are gross domestic product (GDP) growth, inflation, and current account balance as a percentage of GDP. The DMCs are grouped into five subregions: Central Asia, East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific.

These tables contain historical data from 2003 to 2005 and forecasts for 2006 to 2007. Update forecasts are compared with forecasts provided in Asian Development Outlook 2006 (ADO 2006). For countries where Update forecasts are not available, projections are from ADO 2006. As much as possible, efforts were undertaken to standardize the data to allow comparability over time and across DMCs. However, limitations exist because of differences in statistical methodology, definitions, coverage, and practices. A discussion of the sources, definitions, scope, and nature of data in the tables, as well as the methodology for the computation of regional and subregional averages/totals, follows.

Historical data are obtained from official sources, statistical publications, secondary publications, other working papers, and documents of ADB, International Monetary Fund (IMF), and World Bank. Projections for 2006 and 2007 are generally staff estimates, although for a few countries some projections are in accord with government economic programs agreed with IMF. Data in the tables are reported either on a calendar year or fiscal year basis. The DMCs that record most of their accounts on a calendar year basis are: Armenia; Azerbaijan; Hong Kong, China; Kazakhstan; Kyrgyz Republic; Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR); Maldives; Samoa; Sri Lanka; Taipei,China; Tajikistan; Thailand; Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste; and Uzbekistan. Palau reports balance-of-payments data on a fiscal year basis. Some countries record the majority of their accounts on a fiscal year basis, with some accounts recorded on a calendar year basis, e.g., GDP data for Bhutan.

Regional and subregional averages for DMCs are provided for the three economic indicator tables. Data for Afghanistan, Myanmar, and Nauru are excluded from the computation of subregional averages due to measurement problems. Where there are missing data for a given year, regional and subregional averages are computed on the basis of available information only. For these tables, levels of gross national income (GNI) in current US$ using the World Bank Atlas method are used as weights to calculate the subregional and regional averages.

The GNI data, in current US$, were obtained from the World Bank Group WDI Data Query (http://devdata.worldbank.org/data-query/*). The same weights used in ADO 2006 are applied in computing regional and subregional averages. The GNI data, in current US$, for three of the DMCs are unavailable, namely Cook Islands; Taipei,China; and Tuvalu. For these economies, GNI data are estimated. The tables are now reviewed in more detail.

Table A1: Growth rate of GDP (% per year). This shows annual growth rates of GDP valued at constant market prices, factor costs, or basic prices. GDP at market prices is the aggregation of the value added of all resident producers at producers' prices including taxes less subsidies on imports plus all nondeductible value-added or similar taxes. Factor cost measures differ from market price measures in that they exclude taxes on production and include subsidies. Basic price valuation is the factor cost plus some taxes on production, such as property and payroll taxes, and less some subsidies, such as labor-related subsidies but not product-related subsidies. Most DMCs use constant market price valuation. South Asian countries predominantly use constant factor costs, including India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, while the Maldives' GDP valuation is at basic prices. The series for Bhutan has been revised to reflect GDP growth at market prices. Meanwhile, the Fiji Islands employs constant factor cost valuation. For Hong Kong, China, the computations of real GDP and sector growth rates are based on volume indexes. Growth forecasts for Cook Islands, Fiji Islands, and Vanuatu adopt official government projections.

Table A2: Inflation (% per year). Data on inflation rates represent period averages. Except for India, which reports the wholesale price index, and Solomon Islands, which uses the retail price index, annual inflation rates presented are based on the consumer price index. Kiribati reports a new series for the consumer price index, based on the household survey on income and expenditure conducted in 1996. The consumer price indexes of the following countries are for a given city or group of consumers only: Cambodia is for Phnom Penh, Solomon Islands is for Honiara, Republic of Marshall Islands is for Majuro and Ebeye, and Nepal is for urban consumers.

Table A3: Current account balance (% of GDP). The values on the current account balance, which is the sum of the balance of trade for merchandise, net trade in services and factor income, and net transfers, are divided by GDP at current prices in US$. The series for Bangladesh has been revised to include official transfers in the current account. In the case of Bhutan, GDP for the previous calendar year is used as the denominator.

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