Key Indicators for Asia and the Pacific 2014

Publication | September 2014
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Extreme poverty in Asia could fall to 1.4% by 2030. Risks include food costs, natural disasters, climate change, economic crises, and other shocks. About 1.75 billion people in Asia live in extreme poverty based on $1.51 per person per day.

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  • US$75.00 (hard copy)
  • US$21.75 (Special Chapter: Poverty in Asia - A Deeper Look)

This publication presents the latest key statistics on development issues concerning the economies of Asia and the Pacific to a wide audience, including policy makers, development practitioners, government officials, researchers, students, and the general public. Part I of this issue is a special chapter—Poverty in Asia: A Deeper Look. Parts II and III are composed of brief, nontechnical analyses and statistical tables on the Millennium Development Goals and eight other themes. The publication is supplemented by the fourth edition of the Framework of Inclusive Growth Indicators.

The statistical tables in this issue of the Key Indicators may also be downloaded in MS Excel format from this website or in user-specified format at SDBS Online.

Highlights

  • Extreme poverty in Asia, when measured as income or expenditure of 1.25 per person per day in 2005 purchasing power parity terms, could fall to 1.4% by 2030, if current trends continue.
  • But the $1.25 per day measure does not fully capture the extent of extreme poverty in the region. Three additional elements should be factored into the poverty picture: the cost of consumption specific to Asia’s poor; food costs that rise faster than the general price level; and vulnerability to natural disasters, climate change, economic crises, and other shocks.
  • Broadly following the procedure used to determine the conventional $1.25 poverty line—but focusing on data from Asia—produces an estimated Asia specific extreme poverty line of $1.51 per person per day.
  • While the above factors are not necessarily mutually exclusive, the report finds the combined impact would increase Asia’s estimated extreme poverty rate for 2010 by 28.8 percentage points to 49.5%. This increases the number of poor by about 1.02 billion to 1.75 billion people.
  • The report projects that if recent economic growth trends continue, the overall poverty rate would fall to 17.1% in 2030, with most of the poor living in middle income economies.
  • To confront the challenge of maintaining and extending poverty reduction, the report urges a stronger focus on efforts to enhance food security and reduce vulnerability, in addition to promoting growth.

Contents

Part I – Special Chapter: Poverty in Asia: A Deeper Look  

Part I is a special chapter on “Poverty in Asia: A Deeper Look.” Based on a conventional measure—the $1.25-a-day poverty line—the region, while still home to 733 million extremely poor, remains on track to eradicate extreme poverty by 2030. This is indeed a remarkable achievement, yet many argue this poverty line underestimates the cost required to maintain a minimum living standard by the poor in Asia and the Pacific. One attempt to adjust the poverty line is examined in this chapter. When based on an average of national poverty lines for less developed economies in the region, and when the added effects of vulnerability to risks (such as shocks and disasters) and food insecurity are considered, the number of extreme poor in the region in 2010 more than doubles—to about 1.75 billion.

Part II – Millennium Development Goals

Part II contains the MDG indicators and short commentaries on progress toward achieving the specified targets. The region continues to make uneven progress toward achieving the mdgs by the 2015 deadline. While most of the region has made significant gains in reducing poverty, improving access to universal primary education, and promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment, the 2015 targets for reducing child and maternal mortality appear beyond reach.

Introduction to the Millennium Development Goals    
Goal 1: Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger   XLS
Goal 2: Achieve Universal Primary Education   XLS
Goal 3: Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women    XLS
Goal 4: Reduce Child Mortality    XLS
Goal 5: Improve Maternal Health    XLS
Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria, and Other Diseases    XLS
Goal 7: Ensure Environmental Sustainability    XLS
Goal 8: Develop a Global Partnership for Development    XLS

Part III – Regional Trends and Tables

Regional tables in Part III present indicators in eight themes: People; Economy and Output; Money, Finance, and Prices; Globalization; Transport and Communications; Energy and Electricity; Environment; and Government and Governance. The data show that while economic growth in Asia and the Pacific was largely unchanged in 2013, a major transformation is under way in the region. Asia and the Pacific now accounts for over half of the world’s population, nearly 40% of global gross domestic product in purchasing power parity terms, and about one-third of world exports. The region’s growing importance also brings with it increasing challenges. Regional economies consume more than two-fifths of the world’s energy, continue to increase their emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants, and are faced with the rapid consumption of finite resources. Improved governance is imperative as more than 40% of the region’s economies reside in the bottom one-third of Transparency International’s global corruption rankings.

Introduction to the Regional Trends and Tables     
People    XLS
Economy and Output    XLS
Money, Finance, and Prices    XLS
Globalization    XLS
Transport and Communications    XLS
Energy and Electricity   XLS
Environment   XLS
Government and Governance    XLS

Statistics by Economy

Afghanistan    XLS
Armenia    XLS
Australia    XLS
Azerbaijan    XLS
Bangladesh    XLS
Bhutan    XLS
Brunei Darussalam    XLS
Cambodia    XLS
China, People's Republic of    XLS
Cook Islands    XLS
Fiji   XLS
Georgia    XLS
Hong Kong, China    XLS
India    XLS
Indonesia    XLS
Japan    XLS
Kazakhstan    XLS
Kiribati    XLS
Korea, Republic of    XLS
Kyrgyz Republic    XLS
Lao People's Democratic Republic    XLS
Malaysia    XLS
Maldives    XLS
Marshall Islands    XLS
Micronesia, Federated States of    XLS
Mongolia    XLS
Myanmar    XLS
Nauru    XLS
Nepal    XLS
New Zealand    XLS
Pakistan    XLS
Palau    XLS
Papua New Guinea    XLS
Philippines    XLS
Samoa    XLS
Singapore    XLS
Solomon Islands    XLS
Sri Lanka    XLS
Taipei,China    XLS
Tajikistan    XLS
Thailand    XLS
Timor-Leste    XLS
Tonga    XLS
Turkmenistan    XLS
Tuvalu    XLS
Uzbekistan    XLS
Vanuatu    XLS
Viet Nam    XLS

Framework of Inclusive Growth Indicators

The Framework of Inclusive Growth Indicators 2014 (FIGI 2014) is the fourth edition of the special supplement of the Key Indicators for Asia and the Pacific. The framework is composed of 35 indicators used as measures of income and nonincome dimensions of inclusive growth; the processes and inputs that are important to improve access to opportunities, social inclusion, social safety nets; and good governance and institutions. Part I focuses on the extent of education inclusion. It examines the education indicators included in FIGI, discusses trends on education poverty and education inequality, and describes disparities across segments of society defined by wealth, location, and sex. Part II contains updated statistical tables for the 35 FIGI indicators for the economies of developing Asia, along with brief nontechnical analyses of trends and inequalities.

Additional Details

Type
Series
Subjects
  • Economics
  • Finance sector development
  • Poverty
  • Millennium Development Goals
  • Inclusive growth
SKU
  • FLS146590
ISBN
  • 978-92-9254-594-9
  • 978-92-9254-595-6

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