Richest Asian Countries

Top 20 Wealthiest Asian Nations (GNP)

Dec 9, 2006 Daniel Workman

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*)

1. Hong Kong (pop. 6,940,432) ... $31,560
2. Japan (pop. 127,463,611) ... $29,810
3. Singapore (pop. 4,492,150) ... $27,370
4. South Korea (pop. 48,846,823) ... $20,530
5. Malaysia (pop. 24,385,858) ... $9,720
6. Russia (pop. 142,893,540) ... $9,680
7. Thailand (pop. 64,631,595) ... $7,930
8. Turkey (pop. 70,413,958) ... $7,720
9. Kazakhastan (pop. 15,233,244) ... $6,930
10. China (pop. 1,313,973,713) ... $5,890
11. Philippines (pop. 89,468,677) ... $4,950
12. Sri Lanka (pop. 20,222,240) ... $4,210
13. Armenia (pop. 2,976,372) ... $4,160
14. Azerbaijan (pop. 7,961,619) ... $3,810
15. Indonesia (pop. 245,452,739) ... $3,480
16. India (pop. 1,095,351,995) ... $3,120
17. Georgia (pop. 4,661,473) ... $2,900
18. Vietnam (pop. 84,402,966) ... $2,700
19. Cambodia (pop. 13,881,427) ... $2,310
20. 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)

1. China ... $7,739,305,169,570
2. Japan ... $3,799,690,243,910
3. India ... $3,417,498,224,400
4. Russia ... $1,383,209,467,200
5. South Korea ... $1,002,825,276,190
6. Indonesia ... $854,175,531,720
7. Turkey ... $543,595,755,760
8. Thailand ... $512,528,548,350
9. Philippines ... $442,869,951,150
10. 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 ArticleWorld 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

The copyright of the article Richest Asian Countries in International Trade is owned by Daniel Workman. Permission to republish Richest Asian Countries in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Hong Kong Ferry

31 Comments

Comments

Oct 9, 2008 3:15 AM

Guest :

Asia is great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Oct 17, 2008 11:26 AM

Guest :

booya....asian beet americans....whoooo...no offence americans...:D

Oct 20, 2008 5:50 PM

Guest :

go philippines.....we can make it...

Oct 23, 2008 7:30 AM

Guest :

THIS IS GOOD

Oct 23, 2008 7:31 AM

Guest :

MABUHAY PHILIPPINES

Oct 24, 2008 5:39 AM

Guest :

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)

31 Comments