About 60% of the world's population lives in Asia, where there are huge differences in Gross National Product both by country and per capita.
Here are the 20 richest Asian countries and their corresponding annual GNP per capita based on global purchasing power parity (PPP) in international dollars.
GNP per capita, also referred to as Gross National Income, represents the total amount of money that a country's consumers spend on all goods and services in a year divided by that country's population.
Any country with an italicized name in the list below is also among the top ten richest countries in the world. Based on World Bank Development Indicators published in July 2006, the estimated population for each country in 2006 is shown within brackets.
20 Richest Asian Countries (GNP per capita*)
Hong Kong(pop. 6,940,432) ... $31,560
Japan (pop. 127,463,611) ... $29,810
Singapore (pop. 4,492,150) ... $27,370
South Korea (pop. 48,846,823) ... $20,530
Malaysia (pop. 24,385,858) ... $9,720
Russia (pop. 142,893,540) ... $9,680
Thailand (pop. 64,631,595) ... $7,930
Turkey (pop. 70,413,958) ... $7,720
Kazakhastan (pop. 15,233,244) ... $6,930
China (pop. 1,313,973,713) ... $5,890
Philippines (pop. 89,468,677) ... $4,950
Sri Lanka (pop. 20,222,240) ... $4,210
Armenia (pop. 2,976,372) ... $4,160
Azerbaijan (pop. 7,961,619) ... $3,810
Indonesia (pop. 245,452,739) ... $3,480
India (pop. 1,095,351,995) ... $3,120
Georgia (pop. 4,661,473) ... $2,900
Vietnam (pop. 84,402,966) ... $2,700
Cambodia (pop. 13,881,427) ... $2,310
Pakistan (pop. 165,803,560) ... $2,170
*based on 2004 PPP GNP per capita in international$
The average PPP GNP per capita for the top 20 Asian countries is $9,548 per year, much less than the per nation average of $23,758 for the European Union. The above list shows that the family of Asian countries spans a wide range of GNP income levels. For example, Hong Kong's leading GNP per capita is 14.5 times greater than that for Pakistan. The average for the top 4 nations is almost 3 times greater than the GNP per capita for the 5th country on the list, Malaysia.
And The Winners Are...
The list also shows dramatic differences in population levels by country. China and India are the two most-heavily populated nations in the world. Indonesia, Pakistan, Russia and Japan are also characterized by high populations.
Given Asia's dense population, overall GNP statistics present an incisive perspective on which Asian countries have the deepest GNP pockets, as opposed to the individual standard of living within a given nation as measured by GNP per capita.
10 Richest Asian Countries (overall GNP by country)
China ... $7,739,305,169,570
Japan ... $3,799,690,243,910
India ... $3,417,498,224,400
Russia ... $1,383,209,467,200
South Korea ... $1,002,825,276,190
Indonesia ... $854,175,531,720
Turkey ... $543,595,755,760
Thailand ... $512,528,548,350
Philippines ... $442,869,951,150
Pakistan ... $359,793,725,200
The world's highest populations empower Asian countries to leverage improvements in financial fundamentals at the per person level. Consider that a $100 increase in China's GNP per capita will result in a $131 billion addition to China's GNP, a 1.7% increase. Similarly, that same $100 improvement per capita will add $110 billion to India's GNP, a 3.2% rise.
China, India and Russia are among the fastest growing economies in the world, which is why investments such as Claymore BRIC Exchange Traded fund are among the most lucrative and popular investments from a detailed study of international trade.
The accelerating GNPs of Asian nations are also supported by strong trading blocks, both at the global and regional levels. In addition to the World Trade Organization, Asian nations support trade through membership in:
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
Bay of Bengal Initiative for MultiSectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC)
Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC or EAEC)
South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC)
Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).
When dealing with other trading partners around the world, trading blocks enable Asian countries to face the future with a high degree of confidence.
Sources for this Article
World Bank Development Indicators for 2006 Table 1.1 - Size of the Economy and Table 1.6 - Key indicators for other economies, infoplease.org, The World Factbook
For a list of source materials complete with links to the most current information on country-specific GDP, trade partners, imports and exports, visit the Richest Research Sources panel at the top right of the World’s Richest Countries website. That site is a reference toolkit developed specifically for international trade researchers.
The copyright of the article Richest Asian Countries in Gross National Product is owned by Daniel Workman. Permission to republish Richest Asian Countries in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
Go Philippines!!!!!!!!! I know that you will be the best country in asia
and in the world.,.,.
Oct 25, 2008 12:40 AM
Guest
:
Philippines still number one...come and visit here so you can prove it.
Oct 26, 2008 5:05 AM
Guest
:
I am pretty sure with the Blessing of the Lord to our Pres.Gloria M. Arroyo
we will rank number one. Mabuhay
Oct 27, 2008 3:48 PM
Guest
:
go..go..go philippines
Oct 29, 2008 4:23 AM
Guest
:
a big lie..... philippines cant be one of the richest country in asia....so
many filipinos mostly poor are suffering.....philippines is the most
richest country in politics and corruption.....
Nov 5, 2008 3:42 PM
Guest
:
YAY! philippines is the 11th in top 20 and 9th in top 10 (go philippines!)
Nov 8, 2008 11:22 PM
Guest
:
wew asia is the biggest continent in the world and many nation's occupied
it..im so glad that in many countries here in asia..philippines belongs to
top 20 richest asian countries.....VIVA FILIPINAS
Nov 10, 2008 11:52 AM
Guest
:
THE PHILIPPINES has soooo MANY SKILLED and VERY INTELLIGENT PEOPLE...and
THE PHILIPPINES has come into a POINT of NO RETURN..! and ASIA is NOW
WATCHING THE FILIPINOS..for THE WORLD KNOWS..THE PHILIPPINES was 2ND TO
JAPAN 40 years ago..and because, of POLITICS..THE PHILIPPINES went 46th
RICHEST COUNTRY in the WORLD.. with all these NEW STATISTICS..THE
FILIPINO PEOPLE indeed, AWAKEN!! THE FILIPINOS ARE NOW DOING IT..! for
the FILIPINOS have seen that ONLY THE GOVERNMENT ( people) can CATAPULT THE
PHILIPPINES into 1ST WORLD STATUS.. THE PRESIDENT MADE A PROMISED that
SHE with the SUPPORT of THE FILIPINOS...THE PHILIPPINES will be a 1ST WORLD
COUNTRY in 20 YEARS TIME...starting, 7 YEARS AGO... KAYA NATIN
ITO....YES WE CAN..!! THE PHILIPPINES is RISING...this time..THE
FILIPINOS HAS NEVER BEEN SOOOO PROUD AS A BROWN RACE..!! ACTION SPEAKS
LOUDER WORDS this time...JUST DO IT..!!! if there is no jobs
available..a WISE MAN CREATES..a STUPID ONE...LOOKS and WAITS... THE
PHILIPPINES WILL LEAD ASIA..and we are now doing it..for them to
follow... MABUHAY PILIPINAS...MABUHAY FILIPINOS...!!!
Nov 11, 2008 8:29 AM
Guest
:
Thailand is the best place to visit in asia. Huge groups of tourists
come to thailand each year. Do you think so?
Nov 12, 2008 8:10 AM
Guest
:
ohh....im proud because i am a pilipino!
mabuhay ang
Pilipinas!....Go philippines!
Nov 14, 2008 5:58 PM
Guest
:
DAMN..!! I SHOULD BE IN THAT PHILIPPINES LIST!!
anyways...i am
doing it slowly but ROUGH! hehehe
KAYA KAYO...FILIPINO...HUWAG
NG TATAMAD TAMAD..!! at HUWAG HAYAAN NA SINAGAN NG ARAW ANG MGA PWITAN SA
HIGAAN...!!!
ANG TAONG MAHIRAP.....TANGA AT SAGAD SA
KATAMARAN..!!!
IF YOU WANT TO GET RICH....YOU NEED TO LEARN HOW
THE RICH FILIPINOS DOING...INSTEAD, OF DEFENDING THE POOR....because of
PITY!!
IBA NA ANG MUNDO...it only shows that...BEING RICH IS NOT
A SIN!
AMEN...!!
Nov 15, 2008 4:36 AM
Guest
:
plsing all philippine gov. do ur responsebiity we are the greatest country
among others in sense of resources.....
Nov 18, 2008 2:32 AM
Guest
:
The Philippines deserves to be included in the top ten richest countries in
Asia. Go Philippines!!!!!!
Nov 19, 2008 10:39 AM
Guest
:
dude, get your maths right.. philipines is there due to the fact the huge
number of population you have.. if you even did your homework, countries
that have a population of less than 10 million barely even make it. and if
you do your research, hong kong, singapore, japan, south korea are
developed nation. i shall not continue, the fact is, its just the GNP per
capita times your population, and who has the most number of people in the
country wins! yey! look at your state of the country, see if its rich...
dont get too high, reality bites...
Dec 23, 2008 1:19 AM
Guest
:
india is no 11111111111111111111111111111111111
Dec 23, 2008 5:30 AM
Guest
:
i know that philippines can be the best country in the world... patunayan
lang natin yun...
Dec 24, 2008 11:15 AM
Guest
:
rank number 11 or 10 isn't enough for the philippines... philippines you
can move up to 3 or 4 if goverment stop curruption..curruption make our
country poor!!! common philipiines u can move up!!!! plzzzzzzz....from
canada
Dec 27, 2008 8:26 AM
Guest
:
to the guest nov.19:pls don't be so negative!you should be happy that at
least our country going smoothly growing to be a good and stable nation
which is philippines,,,most of us work hard here and abroad to help our
country from poverty,at least in this survey we can see our effort that its
worth enough to see all our hardship and sacrifice:) for our
country!philippines:)we must be proud of it!:)peace amigo:)
Dec 28, 2008 1:18 AM
Guest
:
INDIA is having young people when compared to all other countries .this is
a positive sign for INDIA to grow and become the NO.1 country. we are
having young population whoooooo................. we are the best.
Dec 28, 2008 6:01 PM
Guest
:
philippines cant be one of the richest country in asia, try to visit and
you will see how poor are the people over there, im from philippines, so i
know it, lol! but i still believe that philippines can grow like they
did before, philippines is used to be 3rd richest country in asia, when
Carlos P. Garcia was the president back then...
Jan 3, 2009 3:39 AM
Guest
:
no one would give the likes of India,Thailand,phillipines and even
Indonesia a chance.i realy admire their zeal and drive to become
great....thumbs up
Jan 3, 2009 8:44 PM
Guest
:
Go Philippines! Go Thailand! Go Malaysia! Go Asia!!!
Jan 8, 2009 10:29 PM
Guest
:
keep it up thailand .......go go go ^_^
Jan 9, 2009 9:27 PM
Guest
:
Mabuhay Philippines!!!!! If our grandparents made it to #2 in Asia,
then this new generation need to face the big challenges! We can do it! We
can make our country better, can't we?
Jan 12, 2009 3:15 AM
Guest
:
China and India: worlds next superpowers in GDP.
Jan 13, 2009 5:03 AM
Guest
:
the reasons why the philippines is just number 9 or 12 is that some
government officials are corrupt and most pinoys don't spend their money
wisely. Philippines could have been the best performing economy in asia if
not for these main reasons. OFWs earn money through hard labor in another
country and yet their families and relatives in the philippines spend money
like one day millionaires. pinoys need to lessen spending on birthdays and
fiestas and christmas or new year,big house, furnitures, appliances,
gadgets like cellphone,etc. and instead learn to be business entrepreneurs
instead of just being an ordinary employee in a local or foreign company.
Also pinoys need to support government programs that are geared towards
improving the economy instead of calling for government leaders to resign
in street demonstrations. Population is another issue to be addressed by
the gov't. Though birth rate has significantly dropped but pinoys need to
control the growing population. The reproductive health bill may increase
awareness among the people but still couples have the obligation to limit
the number of their children according to their financial capacity to raise
their kids. (dovelion - china)
