Archive:Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) - a statistical portrait - key facts

This Statistics Explained article is outdated and has been archived - for recent articles on non-EU countries see here.

Data from July 2014. Most recent data: Further Eurostat information, Main tables and Database.

This article is part of a set of statistical articles based on Eurostat’s publication Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) — A statistical portrait.

Figure 1: Distribution of ASEM population and gross domestic product, 2012 and 2013 (1)
(% of ASEM total) - Source: Eurostat (demo_gind) and (nama_gdp_c) and World Bank (World DataBank) and the United Nations Statistics Division (National Accounts Estimates of Main Aggregates)

Figure 2: Population and population projections, 1960-2080 (1)
(million) - Source: Eurostat (demo_pjan) and (proj_13npms) and the United Nations Population Division (World Population Prospects: The 2012 Revision)

Figure 3: Share of world population, selected aggregates and countries, 2013 (1)
(%) - Source: Eurostat (demo_gind) and the World Bank (World DataBank)

Figure 4: Index of the development of gross domestic product at constant prices, 1995–2012
(1995 = 100, based on USD in 2005 prices ) - Source: Eurostat (demo_gind) and the United Nations Statistics Division (National Accounts Estimates of Main Aggregates)

Figure 5: Share of world gross domestic product, selected aggregates and countries, 2012 (1)
(%) - Source: Eurostat (nama_gdp_c) and the United Nations Statistics Division (National Accounts Estimates of Main Aggregates)

Figure 6: Exports of goods and services relative to gross domestic product, 1995–2012
(% of gross domestic product) - Source: Eurostat (nama_gdp_c) and the United Nations Statistics Division (National Accounts Estimates of Main Aggregates)

Figure 7: Imports of goods and services relative to gross domestic product, 1995–2012
(% of gross domestic product) - Source: Eurostat (nama_gdp_c) and the United Nations Statistics Division (National Accounts Estimates of Main Aggregates)

This article focuses on key data about the European Union (EU), Norway and Switzerland in comparison with 20 Asian ASEM partners. It covers a range of indicators concerning population, gross domestic product (GDP) and international trade of ASEM partners, including their development over time.

The use of the term European ASEM partners in this article refers to the 28 Member States of the EU, Norway and Switzerland. The use of the term Asian ASEM partners in this article refers to the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the 10 remaining ASEM partners referred to as Northeast and South Asia (NESA).

Main statistical findings

In 2013, the EU-28’s share of the total population of all ASEM partners was 11.4 %. In terms of economic output, its contribution was much higher, reaching 40.1 % in 2012 (see Figure 1). A similar situation could be observed for Norway and Switzerland. The reverse was true for ASEAN and the NESA partners whose shares in population terms were greater than in terms of gross domestic product.

Population

The Asian ASEM partners recorded substantially faster population growth than the European ASEM partners during the years shown in Figure 2. Between 1960 and 2010 European ASEM partners recorded average population growth of 0.4 % per year, whereas growth for Asian ASEM partners averaged 1.7 % per year, the latter being the same as the world average which it greatly influences. Between 1995 and 2000, ASEAN’s population overtook that of the EU-28. Population growth is projected to slow across most of the planet from 2050 onwards.

ASEM partners made up 62.3 % of the world’s population of 7.1 billion persons in 2013 (see Figure 3). The vast majority of these people (55.0 % of the world total) were in Asian ASEM partners and the remainder (7.3 %) in European ASEM partners. Among all of the ASEM partners, China and India had by far the largest populations, both over one and a quarter billion. The EU-28’s population in 2013 was just over 506 million while that of Indonesia — the largest ASEAN member in population terms — was around half this size.

For more information concerning the population of ASEM partners, please refer to the article on ASEM population statistics.

Gross domestic product

GDP growth in the Asian ASEM partners averaged 3.9 % per year between 1995 and 2012, compared with 1.8 % per year for European ASEM partners. It should be noted that this period includes the global financial and economic crisis, which can clearly be seen in the data for 2008 and 2009 in Figure 4. GDP growth in ASEAN members averaged 4.4 % per year during this period, slightly ahead of the 3.9 % average recorded for NESA and well above the 2.8 % per year average recorded for ASEM as a whole and for the world.

In 2012, the total economic output of the world, as measured by GDP, was estimated at EUR 56 577 billion, of which the ASEM partners accounted for 57.2 % (see Figure 5). The European ASEM partners accounted for a 24.5 % share of the world’s GDP in 2012. Asian ASEM partners contributed 32.7 % of world GDP. Most of the GDP from Asian ASEM partners was from NESA partners, notably China (11.5 % of world GDP) and Japan (8.2 %); the ASEAN members collectively contributed 3.2 % of the world’s GDP in 2012. Note that these relative shares are based on current price series in euro terms, reflecting bilateral exchange rates.

For more information concerning the economy of ASEM partners, please refer to the article on ASEM economy and finance statistics.

International trade

As well as a great deal of other information, the balance of payments provides statistics on international trade in goods and services. The level of international trade relative to overall economic activity (the ratio of traded goods and services to GDP) can be seen in Figures 6 and 7. Among the four groupings of ASEM partners shown in these figures, the relatively small ASEAN economies reported much higher relative flows of exports and imports between 1995 and 2012, while the NESA economies collectively reported much lower trade flows relative to overall economic activity. In 2012, the ASEAN members with particularly high levels of exports and imports relative to GDP included Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia. Among the NESA partners with the lowest levels of imports and exports relative to GDP were Japan and Pakistan.

Among all of the Asian ASEM partners, the oil-rich economy of Brunei Darussalam reported the largest trade surplus relative to GDP (50.2 %) in 2012, while Mongolia reported the largest trade deficit (-25.9 %). The Russian Federation (7.3 % of GDP), the Republic of Korea (3.1 %) and China (2.9 %) all reported trade surpluses for goods and services in 2012, as did the EU-28 (1.9 %) in contrast to Australia (–0.7 %), Indonesia (–1.6 %), Japan (–2.0 %) and India (–7.7 %) — each of which recorded a trade deficit.

Between 1995 and 2012 the level of exports and imports relative to GDP increased in all four of the groupings of ASEM partners shown in Figures 6 and 7. For example, EU-28 exports and imports (relative to GDP) increased by a half between 1995 and 2012, while NESA imports relative to GDP more than doubled and NESA exports relative to GDP almost doubled. The levels of ASEAN exports and imports (relative to GDP) were more volatile than for the other aggregates during this period and fell most notably during the global financial and economic crisis in 2008 and 2009.

Data sources and availability

The indicators presented are often compiled according to international — sometimes global — standards. Although most data are based on international concepts and definitions there may be certain discrepancies in the methods used to compile the data.

Almost all of the indicators presented for the EU (and its Member States), Norway and Switzerland have been drawn from Eurobase, Eurostat’s online database. In exceptional cases some indicators for the EU have been extracted from international sources.

For the Asian ASEM partners and their aggregates (ASEAN and NESA), the data presented have been extracted from a range of international sources, namely the World Bank, the United Nations Population Division and the United Nations Statistics Division.

For many of the indicators multiple international statistical sources are available, each with their own policies and practices concerning data management (for example, concerning data validation, the correction of errors, the estimation of missing data, and the frequency of updating). In general, attempts have been made to use only one source for each indicator in order to provide a comparable analysis between the partners. Aggregates for ASEM, the European ASEM partners and the Asian ASEM partners have been compiled from the data for individual partners as indicated above. As such, they may combine data from Eurostat and international sources.

Context

The figures in this article provide an overview of the share of the world’s population and GDP that is concentrated in ASEM partners, as well as the development of population, GDP and international trade over time.

Further Eurostat information

Publications

ASEM partners accounted for 44% of EU28 imports and 30% of exports in 2013 — News release October 2014
EU-South Korea trade relations boosted by the recent free trade agreement — Statistics in focus 1/2015
EU trade in goods with India in slight deficit in 2015 for a third consecutive year — News release March 2016
From birth to death: a closer look at business demography in selected EU countries and the Republic of Korea — Statistics in focus 1/2014
Goods trade with ASEAN countries rebounds from 2009 to 2010 — Statistics in focus 47/2011
The EU in the world 2013 — A statistical portrait — Statistical book (2013)
The European Union and the BRIC countries — Pocketbook (2012)
The European Union and the Republic of Korea — A statistical portrait — Statistical book (2012)

Database

National accounts, see:

Annual national accounts (nama)

GDP and main components (nama_gdp)

GDP and main components - Current prices (nama_gdp_c)

Population, see:

Demography (pop)

Demography - National data (demo)

Demographic balance and crude rates (demo_gind)

Population (demo_pop)

Population on 1 January by age and sex (demo_pjan)

Population projections (proj)

EUROPOP2013 - Population projections at national level (proj_13n)

Projected population (proj_13np)

Main scenario - Population on 1st January by sex and single year age (proj_13npms)

Dedicated section

Source data for figures (MS Excel)

Download Excel file

External links