Global Trade Foreign to Some Asian Countries
Singapore & Malaysia are Most Open to International Trade
Jan 18, 2009
This analysis focuses on the total value of exports and imports for 30 economies in North, South and East Asia. Excluded are Asian nations also considered part of the Mideast.
Global trade amounts for each country are divided by its Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The resulting percentage shows the share of a nation’s production that global trade generates.
Based on estimated 2007 statistics from the CIA World Factbook, overall global trade from East Asia led by China and Japan was about US$4.6 trillion or 34.3% of that geographic region’s total GDP which amounted to some $13.3 trillion. South Asia led by Singapore and Malaysia generated $2.1 trillion in global trade which represents 32.7% of its $6.4 trillion in GDP. Home to countries like Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan, North Asia accounted for only $114.5 million in global trade which translates to 40.6% of its $282 million in GDP.
Asian Countries Most Open to Global Trade
The following 10 nations have the highest global trade percentages for 2007.
- Singapore ... 244.3% driven by global trade (US$554.7 billion divided by GDP of $227.1 billion)
- Malaysia ... 87.3% driven by global trade ($315.5 billion divided by $361.2 billion)
- Maldives ... 69.1% driven by global trade ($1.1 billion divided by $1.6 billion)
- Taiwan ... 66.1% driven by global trade ($461.6 billion divided by $698.6 billion)
- Papua New Guinea ... 60.7% driven by global trade ($7.3 billion divided by $12.1 billion)
- South Korea ... 60.4% driven by global trade ($728.6 billion divided by $1.3 trillion)
- Thailand ... 53% driven by global trade ($276.3 billion divided by $521.5 billion)
- Vietnam ... 48.6% driven by global trade ($107.5 billion divided by $221.1 billion)
- Kazakhstan ... 48.5% driven by global trade ($81.6 billion divided by $168.2 billion)
- Mongolia ... 46.9% driven by global trade ($4 billion divided by $8.5 billion).
Other Asian Countries that Encourage Global Trade
The nations below also have competitive global trade percentages.
- Turkmenistan ... 44.9% driven by global trade (US$12.1 billion divided by GDP of $26.9 billion)
- Brunei ... 44.6% driven by global trade ($8.8 billion divided by $19.6 billion)
- Kyrgyzstan ... 37.7% driven by global trade ($4 billion divided by $10.6 billion)
- Tajikistan ... 36.5% driven by global trade ($4.4 billion divided by $12 billion)
- Cambodia ... 36.3% driven by global trade ($9.5 billion divided by $26.2 billion)
- Philippines ... 35.6% driven by global trade ($106.9 billion divided by $300.1 billion)
- China ... 29.9% driven by global trade ($2.1 trillion divided by $7.1 trillion)
- Japan ... 29.3% driven by global trade ($1.3 trillion divided by $4.3 trillion)
- Indonesia ... 24.1% driven by global trade ($202.9 billion divided by $843.7 billion)
- Sri Lanka ... 22.5% driven by global trade ($18.5 billion divided by $82 billion).
Asian Countries Least Developed in Global Trade
Vast markets including India (population 1.1 billion) and Pakistan (173 million) are among Asian nations that are least open to global trade. A country with relatively closed borders to international trade is called an autarky.
- Bhutan ... 19.9% driven by global trade ($670 million divided by $3.4 billion)
- Uzbekistan ... 19.5% driven by global trade ($12.5 billion divided by $64.4 billion)
- Laos ... 18.3% driven by global trade ($2.4 billion divided by $12.8 billion)
- Bangladesh ... 14% driven by global trade ($29.1 billion divided by $208.3 billion)
- India ... 12.9% driven by global trade ($381.8 million divided by $3 trillion)
- Afghanistan ... 11.7% driven by global trade ($4.1 billion divided by $35 billion)
- Pakistan ... 11.4% driven by global trade ($46.9 billion divided by $411.9 billion)
- Nepal ... 11% driven by global trade ($3.2 billion divided by $29.3 billion)
- North Korea ... 10.9% driven by global trade ($4.3 billion divided by $40 billion)
- Myanmar (Burma) ... 9.9% driven by global trade ($9.1 billion divided by $91.1 billion).
Top 10 Asian Exporting Countries
Below are the leading Asian economies contributing the most to the $3.6 trillion in total exports for 2007.
- China ... US$1.22 trillion (33.4% of total exports from Asian countries in this study)
- Japan ... $678.1 billion (18.6%)
- South Korea ... $379 billion (10.4%)
- Singapore ... $302.7 billion (8.3%)
- Taiwan ... $246.5 billion (6.7%)
- Malaysia ... $176.4 billion (4.8%)\
- India ... $151.3 billion (4.1%)
- Thailand ... $151 billion (4%)
- Indonesia ... $118 billion (3.2%)
- Philippines ... $49.3 billion (1.3%).
Top 10 Asian Importing Countries
The following Asian countries added the most to the $3.1 trillion in overall imports for 2007.
- China ... US$904.6 billion (29% of total imports from Asian countries in this study)
- Japan ... $573.3 billion (18.4%)
- South Korea ... $349.6 billion (11.2%)
- Singapore ... $252 billion (8.1%)
- Taiwan ... $215.1 billion (6.9%)
- Malaysia ... $139.1 billion (4.5%)\
- India ... $230.5 billion (7.4%)
- Thailand ... $125.2 billion (4%)
- Indonesia ... $84.9 billion (2.7%)
- Vietnam ... $58.9 billion (1.9%).
Asian Economies Offer Great Potential
The wealth of Asian exporting giants including China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan are strongly affected by the current slowdown in demand by American consumers.
India is well known for its large population of English-speaking workers and computer services outsourcing. Yet its overall global trade is a much smaller percentage of GDP than other Asian economies.
Hillary Clinton has said that United States and China represent the world’s most important bilateral trade relationship. Given that global trade currently drives about 30% of China’s economic production but only 13% of India’s output, America must also prioritize its long-term trade rapport with India.
Sources for this Article
This article presents independent calculations and insights based on estimated 2007 data drawn from the CIA World Factbook and Carbaugh’s International Economics, 12th edition.
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