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GDP PER CAPITA

Gross domestic product per person (GDP per capita) is is a negative correlation between the pace of growth in GDP the most widely used comparative indicator of economic per capita over the period 2006-12 and the initial level of performance, and its varies considerably across the GDP per capita in 2006. Thus provides some evidence for /Pacific region (Figure 4.1, Panel A). The region economic theories of “catch-up” and GDP convergence. includes some of the richest as well as some of the poorest is growing more rapidly than one might expect given countries in the world (please note the differences in the its level of GDP, while the opposite holds for . axis with respect to the values of GDP per capita in the top and bottom parts of Figure 4.1, Panel A). (China), , , and Darussalam are all with a higher GDP per capita than across the OECD on average. By contrast, in 2012 GDP per capita was Definition and measurement less than USD 1 000 per person in , , Among the different measures available in the and . Differences in GDP per capita within System of (SNA), gross domestic the Asia/Pacific region are much greater than within the product (GDP) per capita is the one most commonly OECD: Australia’s GDP per capita is almost 100 times higher used for comparing the sizes of economies across than that of Nepal. countries. GDP per capita measures the sum of Across countries, there are also significant differ- marketed goods and services produced within the ences in per capita GDP growth rates between 2006 and national boundary, averaged across everyone who 2012 (Figure 4.1, Panel B). Over this period, annual average lives within this territory. GDP per capita is calculated growth rates ranged from negative growth in Brunei and Fiji using a country’s GDP in 2012 to strong growth (at over 5% annually) in Papua New dollars (USD) which is then divided by the country’s , , Bangladesh, Lao PDR, , , total population. Timor-Leste, , , and in excess of The 2012 USD value is used to convert national 9% in China and Macau (China). In all, the average annual currencies so that cross-national comparisons can be growth rate of GDP per capita for the Asia/Pacific region was made. Annual average growth rates in GDP per capita 3.9%, for the 2006-12 period, compared with a low average are calculated using GDP per capita expressed in growth rate of OECD countries of 0.3% during this global constant national currency. The data come from the “crisis” period. , World Development Indicators (http:// Poorer countries in the Asia/Pacific region are tending data.worldbank.org/indicator). to grow at a faster rate than richer ones (Figure 4.2). There

72 AT A GLANCE: ASIA/PACIFIC 2014 © OECD 2014 GDP PER CAPITA

Figure 4.1. GDP per capita and recent trends

Panel A. Current GDP per capita ( ), 2012 Panel B. Real annual average growth rate of GDP per capita, 2006-12 2012 USD 78 300 Macau, China 10.0 67 600 Australia 1.3 51 700 Singapore 1.8 46 700 Japan 0.2 41 100 Brunei Darussalam -1.0 39 300 OECD 0.3 37 700 0.2 36 800 , China 2.4 22 600 , Republic of 2.7 13 600 Asia/Pacific 3.9 12 100 3.9 10 400 2.8 80 000 60 000 40 000 20 000 0

7 200 Azerbaijan 6.8 6 600 4.0 6 100 China 9.5 5 500 3.0 4 500 0.6 4 500 Fiji -0.4 3 700 Mongolia 7.3 3 600 0.2 3 600 4.6 3 400 Armenia 7.7 2 900 Sri Lanka 6.1 2 600 3.2 2 400 Bhutan 7.8 2 200 5.0 1 800 3.7 1 800 Viet Nam 4.9 1 500 India 5.6 1 400 Lao PDR 5.8 1 300 1.1 1 200 Kyrgyz Rep. 2.8 1 100 Timor-Leste 6.9 900 Cambodia 4.6 900 Tajikistan 4.3 800 Bangladesh 5.1 700 Nepal 3.3 8 000 6 000 4 000 2 000 0 -2 0 2 4 6 8 10 12

Figure 4.2. GDP per capita is converging across the Asia/Pacific region

Real annual average growth rate of GDP per capita, 2006-12 11 10 MAC CHN 9 8 BTN ARM 7 MNG TLS AZE 6 LKA LAO IND 5 BGD PNG KHM IDN Asia/Pacific 4 TJK VNM MDV SLB KAZ 3 NPL PHL THA KGZ MYS KOR HKG SGP 2 AUS 1 PAK OECD WSM TON JPN 0 NZL FJI -1 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0 Level 2006 Log of GDP per capita

Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators, http://data.worldbank.org/indicator. 1 2 http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/888933150974

SOCIETY AT A GLANCE: ASIA/PACIFIC 2014 © OECD 2014 73 From: Society at a Glance: Asia/Pacific 2014

Access the complete publication at: https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264220553-en

Please cite this chapter as:

OECD (2014), “GDP per capita”, in Society at a Glance: Asia/Pacific 2014, OECD Publishing, .

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1787/soc_aag-2014-7-en

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