Asia

== Economy ==
{{Main|Economy of Asia|List of Asian countries by GDP|List of countries in Asia-Pacific by GDP (nominal)|List of Asian and Pacific countries by GDP (PPP)}}
[[File:1 Singapore city skyline 2010 day panorama.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.25|Singapore has one of the [[List of busiest container ports|busiest container ports in the world]] and is the world's fourth largest [[Foreign exchange market|foreign exchange]] trading center.]]
Asia has the [[List of continents by GDP|largest continental economy]] in the world by both [[List of countries by GDP (nominal)|GDP nominal]] and [[purchasing power parity|PPP]] values, and is the fastest growing economic region.<ref name=":5">{{cite web |author=International Monetary Fund |title=World Economic Outlook Database, April 2023 |url=https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/weo-database/2023/April |publisher=[[International Monetary Fund]] |access-date=7 May 2023 |archive-date=13 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230413194731/https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/weo-database/2023/April |url-status=live }}</ref> {{as of|2023}}, [[China]] is by far the largest economy on the continent, making up nearly half of the continent's economy by GDP nominal. It is followed by Japan, India, South Korea, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, which are all ranked amongst the top 20 largest economies both by nominal and PPP values.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aneki.com/countries2.php?t=Largest_Economies_in_Asia&table=fb126&places=2&unit=*&order=desc&dependency=independent&number=5&cntdn=n&r=-201-202-203-204-205-206-207-208-209-210-211-212-116-214-215-216-217-218-219-220&c=asia&measures=Country--GDP&units=*--$*&decimals=*--*|title=Largest_Economies_in_Asia|website=Aneki.com|access-date=9 November 2017|archive-date=30 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730041726/https://www.aneki.com/countries2.php?t=Largest_Economies_in_Asia&table=fb126&places=2&unit=%2A&order=desc&dependency=independent&number=5&cntdn=n&r=-201-202-203-204-205-206-207-208-209-210-211-212-116-214-215-216-217-218-219-220&c=asia&measures=Country--GDP&units=%2A--%24%2A&decimals=%2A--%2A|url-status=live}}</ref> Based on Global Office Locations 2011, Asia dominated the office locations with 4 of the top 5 being in Asia: Hong Kong, Singapore, [[Tokyo]] and [[Seoul]]. Around 68 percent of international firms have an office in Hong Kong.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cfoinnovation.com/content/hong-kong-singapore-tokyo-worlds-top-office-destinations |title=Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo World's Top Office Destinations |work=CFO innovation ASIA |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110807011203/http://www.cfoinnovation.com/content/hong-kong-singapore-tokyo-worlds-top-office-destinations |archive-date=7 August 2011 |access-date=21 July 2011 }}</ref>

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the economy of China<ref>{{citation |ssrn=916768 |title=Five Years of China WTO Membership: EU and US Perspectives About China's Compliance With Transparency Commitments and the Transitional Review Mechanism|date=4 August 2006|last1=Farah|first1=Paolo Davide}}</ref> had an average annual growth rate of more than 8%. According to [[economic historian]] [[Angus Maddison]], India had the world's largest economy during 1000 BCE and 1 CE. India was the largest economy in the world for most of the two millennia from the 1st until 19th century, contributing 25% of the world's industrial output.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a-JGGp2suQUC&q=angus+maddison|title=Contours of the World Economy 1-2030 AD: Essays in Macro-Economic History|isbn=978-0-19-164758-1|last1=Maddison|first1=Angus|date=20 September 2007|publisher=OUP Oxford |access-date=30 May 2021|archive-date=24 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200924191955/https://books.google.com/books?id=a-JGGp2suQUC&dq=angus+maddison&hl=en|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=rHJGz3HiJbcC&pg=PA261|title = Development Centre Studies the World Economy Historical Statistics: Historical Statistics|isbn = 978-9264104143|last1 = Angus|first1 = Maddison|date = 2003| publisher=OECD |access-date = 30 May 2021|archive-date = 14 April 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210414054608/https://books.google.com/books?id=rHJGz3HiJbcC&pg=PA261|url-status = live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/economicsworldhi00bair_0|isbn = 978-0-226-03463-8|title = Economics and world history : Myths and paradoxes|year = 1995|last1 = Bairoch|first1 = Paul| publisher=University of Chicago Press }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.theworldeconomy.org/MaddisonTables/MaddisontableB-18.pdf |title=Table B–18. World GDP, 20 Countries and Regional Totals, 0–1998 A.D. |website=theworldeconomy.org |access-date=20 September 2021 |archive-date=22 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130722202625/http://www.theworldeconomy.org/MaddisonTables/MaddisontableB-18.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> China was the [[Economic history of China|largest and most advanced economy]] on earth for much of recorded history and shared the mantle with India.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/SRR/Volume14/nalapat.html |title= Ensuring China's "Peaceful Rise" |author=Professor M.D. Nalapat|publisher=Bharat-rakshak.com |date=11 September 2001 |access-date=1 June 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100110045822/http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/SRR/Volume14/nalapat.html |archive-date=10 January 2010 }}</ref><ref name="Dahlman">{{Cite book |url=http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED460052&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED460052 |title=Dahlman, Carl J; Aubert, Jean-Eric. China and the Knowledge Economy: Seizing the 21st century. WBI Development Studies. World Bank Publications. Accessed 30 January 2008 |publisher=Eric.ed.gov |access-date=1 June 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080304235359/http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED460052&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED460052 |archive-date=4 March 2008 |isbn=978-0-8213-5005-8 |date=2000 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.economist.com/surveys/displaystory.cfm?story_id=E1_PNTJQTR |title=The Real Great Leap Forward |newspaper=The Economist |date=30 September 2004 |access-date=1 June 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161227234147/http://www.economist.com/surveys/displaystory.cfm?story_id=E1_PNTJQTR |archive-date=27 December 2016}}</ref> For several decades in the late twentieth century Japan was the largest economy in Asia and second-largest of any single nation in the world, after surpassing the [[Soviet Union]] (measured in net material product) in 1990 and Germany in 1968. (NB: A number of supernational economies are larger, such as the [[European Union]] (EU), the [[North American Free Trade Agreement]] (NAFTA) or [[APEC]]). This ended in 2010 when China overtook Japan to become the world's second largest economy. It is forecasted that India will overtake Japan in terms of nominal GDP by 2027.<ref name=":5" />

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Japan's GDP by currency exchange rates was almost as large as that of the rest of Asia combined.<ref name=":5" /> In 1995, Japan's economy nearly equaled that of the US as the largest economy in the world for a day, after the Japanese currency reached a record high of 79 [[Japanese yen|yen]]/US$. Economic growth in Asia since [[World War II]] to the 1990s had been concentrated in Japan as well as the four regions of South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore located in the [[Pacific Rim]], known as the [[Four Asian Tigers|Asian tigers]], which are now all considered developed economies, having amongst the highest GDP per capita in Asia.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.emergingdragon.com/ |title=Rise of Japan and 4 Asian Tigers from |publisher=emergingdragon.com |access-date=1 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100422013118/http://www.emergingdragon.com/ |archive-date=22 April 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=":5" />

[[File:Mumbai skyline BWSL.jpg|alt=|thumb|Mumbai is one of the most populous cities on the continent. The city is an infrastructure and tourism hub, and plays a crucial role in the [[economy of India]].]]
Asia is the largest continent in the world by a considerable margin, and it is rich in natural resources, such as [[petroleum]], [[forest]]s, [[fish]], [[water]], [[rice]], [[copper]] and [[silver]]. Manufacturing in Asia has traditionally been strongest in East and Southeast Asia, particularly in China, [[Taiwan]], South Korea, Japan, India, the Philippines, and Singapore. Japan and South Korea continue to dominate in the area of [[multinational corporation]]s, but increasingly the PRC and India are making significant inroads. Many companies from Europe, North America, South Korea and Japan have operations in Asia's developing countries to take advantage of its abundant supply of cheap labour and relatively developed infrastructure.{{Citation needed|date=May 2023}}

According to [[Citigroup]] in 2011, 9 of 11 [[3G countries|Global Growth Generators]] countries came from Asia driven by population and income growth. They are Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Mongolia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Vietnam.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sme.com.ph/sme-news/news.php?newsid=2324 |title=Philippine potential cited |publisher=sme.com.ph |date=24 February 2011 |access-date=1 March 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110424124759/https://www.sme.com.ph/sme-news/news.php?newsid=2324 |archive-date=24 April 2011 }}</ref> Asia has three main financial centers: Hong Kong, Tokyo and Singapore. [[Call center]]s and [[business process outsourcing]] (BPOs) are becoming major employers in India and the Philippines due to the availability of a large pool of highly skilled, English-speaking workers. The increased use of outsourcing has assisted the rise of India and the China as financial centers. Due to its large and extremely competitive information technology industry, India has become a major hub for outsourcing.{{Citation needed|date=May 2023}}

Trade between Asian countries and countries on other continents is largely carried out on the sea routes that are important for Asia. Individual main routes have emerged from this. The main route leads from the Chinese coast south via Hanoi to Jakarta, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur through the [[Strait of Malacca]] via the Sri Lankan Colombo to the southern tip of India via Malé to East Africa [[Mombasa]], from there to [[Djibouti]], then through the Red Sea over the [[Suez Canal]] into Mediterranean, there via Haifa, Istanbul and [[Athens]] to the upper Adriatic to the northern Italian hub of [[Trieste]] with its rail connections to Central and Eastern Europe or further to [[Barcelona]] and around Spain and France to the European northern ports. A far smaller part of the goods traffic runs via South Africa to Europe. A particularly significant part of the Asian goods traffic is carried out across the Pacific towards [[Los Angeles]] and [[Long Beach]]. In contrast to the sea routes, the Silk Road via the land route to Europe is on the one hand still under construction and on the other hand is much smaller in terms of scope. Intra-Asian trade, including sea trade, is growing rapidly.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.statista.com/statistics/253988/estimated-containerized-cargo-flows-on-major-container-trade-routes/| title = Estimated containerized cargo flows on major container trade routes in 2020, by trade route| access-date = 26 January 2021| archive-date = 9 January 2021| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210109011258/https://www.statista.com/statistics/253988/estimated-containerized-cargo-flows-on-major-container-trade-routes/| url-status = live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.futurenautics.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/GlobalMarineTrends2030Report.pdf| title = Global Marine Trends 2030 Report| access-date = 26 January 2021| archive-date = 12 April 2021| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210412162434/https://www.futurenautics.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/GlobalMarineTrends2030Report.pdf| url-status = live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/maritime-trade| title = Maritime Trade| access-date = 26 January 2021| archive-date = 19 March 2021| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210319005146/https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/maritime-trade| url-status = live}}</ref><ref>Harry G. Broadman "Afrika's Silk Road" (2007), pp 59.</ref><ref>Harry de Wilt: Is One Belt, One Road a China crisis for North Sea main ports? in World Cargo News, 17. December 2019.</ref><ref>Bernhard Simon: Can The New Silk Road Compete With The Maritime Silk Road? in The Maritime Executive, 1 January 2020.</ref><ref>Jean-Marc F. Blanchard "China's Maritime Silk Road Initiative and South Asia" (2018).</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.joc.com/maritime-news/trade-lanes/intra-asia| title = INTRA-ASIA| access-date = 26 January 2021| archive-date = 26 January 2021| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210126022043/https://www.joc.com/maritime-news/trade-lanes/intra-asia| url-status = live}}</ref>

In 2010, Asia had 3.3 million millionaires (people with net worth over US$1 million excluding their homes), slightly below North America with 3.4 million millionaires. In 2011, Asia topped Europe in number of millionaires.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/international-news/asian-pacific/asias-millionaire-population-overtakes-europe/article2072205/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110625124306/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/international-news/asian-pacific/asias-millionaire-population-overtakes-europe/article2072205/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=25 June 2011 |title=Asia has more millionaires than Europe |location=Toronto}}</ref>
Citigroup in The Wealth Report 2012 stated that Asian centa-millionaire overtook North America's wealth for the first time as the world's "economic center of gravity" continued moving east. At the end of 2011, there were 18,000 Asian people mainly in Southeast Asia, China and Japan who have at least $100 million in disposable assets, while North America with 17,000 people and Western Europe with 14,000 people.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-27/citigroup-study-shows-asian-rich-topping-north-american.html |title=Citigroup Study Shows Asian Rich Topping North American |date=28 March 2012 |publisher=Bloomberg L.P. |first=Sanat |last=Vallikappen |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150114212900/http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-27/citigroup-study-shows-asian-rich-topping-north-american.html |archive-date=14 January 2015 }}</ref>

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: right; float:left; border:1px solid #aaa; margin:10px"
|- style="background:#dbdbdb;"
! Rank
! Country
! [[List of IMF ranked countries by past and projected GDP (nominal)|GDP]] <small>(nominal, Peak Year)</small><br /><small>millions of [[International dollar|USD]]</small>
! Peak Year
|-
| 1 ||align=left|{{flag|China}} ||17,700,899	||2023
|-
| 2 ||align=left|{{flag|Japan}} ||4,230,862||2023
|-
| 3 ||align=left|{{flag|India}} ||3,732,224||2023
|-
| 4 ||align=left|{{flag|Russia}} ||1,862,470||2023
|-
| 5 ||align=left|{{flag|South Korea}} ||1,709,232||2021
|-
| 6 ||align=left|{{flag|Indonesia}} ||1,417,387||2023
|-
| 7 ||align=left|{{flag|Turkey}} ||1,154,600||2023
|-
| 8 ||align=left|{{nowrap|{{flag|Saudi Arabia}}}} ||1,069,437||2023
|-
| 9 ||align=left|{{flag|Taiwan}} ||751,930||2023
|-
| 10 ||align=left|{{flag|Israel}}||521,688||2023
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: right; float:left; border:1px solid #aaa; margin:10px"
|- style="background:#dbdbdb;"
! Rank
! Country
! [[List of countries by past and projected GDP (PPP)|GDP]] <small>(PPP, Peak Year)</small><br /><small>millions of [[International dollar|USD]]</small>
! Peak Year
|-
| 1 ||align=left|{{flag|China}} ||32,897,929||2023
|-
| 2 ||align=left|{{flag|India}} ||13,119,622||2023
|-
| 3 ||align=left|{{flag|Japan}} ||6,495,214||2023
|-
| 4 ||align=left|{{flag|Russia}}<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://databankfiles.worldbank.org/public/ddpext_download/GDP_PPP.pdf |title=World Bank's GDP (PPP) Data for Russia |access-date=14 July 2023 |archive-date=5 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230805171030/https://databankfiles.worldbank.org/public/ddpext_download/GDP_PPP.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>||5,326,855||2022
|-
| 5 ||align=left|{{flag|Indonesia}} ||4,393,370||2023
|-
| 6 ||align=left|{{flag|Turkey}} ||3,613,540||2023
|-
| 7 ||align=left|{{flag|South Korea}} ||2,924,189||2023
|-
| 8 ||align=left|{{nowrap|{{flag|Saudi Arabia}}}} ||2,246,535||2023
|-
| 9 ||align=left|{{flag|Egypt}} ||1,809,425||2023
|-
| 10 ||align=left|{{flag|Iran}} ||1,725,874||2023
|}
{{clear}}