The report “APEC in Charts 2015” depicting the region’s economic, trade, investment and policy-related performance through the use of charts was released
According to the report, in 2014 nominal GDP of the APEC region accounted for 57% of global GDP, share in total world trade - 49%, share in the world’s population - 39%.
The APEC region posted a real GDP growth of 3.2% in 2014, higher than the world GDP growth of 2.5% during the year. Uncertainties surrounding the path of oil prices, moderation of growth in China, and the timing of monetary normalization in the United States combined with domestic factors such as lower household spending resulted in diverging growth paths among members. In 2014, the real GDP (in 2005 USD) per person in the APEC region grew by 4.3%, compared with 3.4% growth in the rest of the world. The APEC region has consistently outpaced the rest of the world in terms of real GDP per capita growth in 2000-2014.
Inflation rates across the APEC region increased from an average of 2.8% in 2013 to 3.1% in 2014. Accommodative financial conditions from relatively low policy interest rates and quantitative easing combined with strong credit growth contributed to higher inflation levels in 2014.
The total labor force participation rate in the APEC region in 2014 averaged 66%, lower than the 69% recorded a year ago. The decline may be attributed to the structural shifts in the labor market, particularly an aging workforce as well as slack demand as global economic activity proceeds at a slower pace. The female labor force participation rate averaged 56%, at par with the world rate of 55%, while the male participation rate at 75% is lower than the world rate of 81%.
The value of APEC members’ aggregate trade increased three-folds to USD 18.5 trillion in 2014 from USD 6.4 trillion in 2000, growing at an average annual rate of 10.4% during the period. Intra-regional trade also kept pace, expanding by around 2.7 times during the same period from USD 4.5 trillion to USD 12.1 trillion. Total exports of goods in the APEC region climbed to USD 9.1 trillion in 2014, of which 65.3% were intra-regional exports. APEC imports were higher at USD 9.4 trillion, of which 65.4% were sourced from other APEC economies. Trade growth in the region has been slowing down in recent years, reflecting the uneven economic recovery in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. In 2014, at least 84% of intra-APEC trade-in-goods was accounted for by the top 5 APEC exporters and importers. China was the largest exporter of goods while the US was the largest importer. The number of free trade agreements (FTAs) signed by APEC members expanded 12-fold over the past 20 years. As of 2014, APEC members have signed a total of 157 FTAs, 58 of which are with at least one other APEC member. Of the FTAs signed, 149 are still in force, 54 of which are with at least another APEC member.
In 2014, the APEC region experienced more outflows of foreign direct investments (FDI) at USD 960 billion compared to inflows of USD 652 billion. As a share of world FDI, APEC’s inflows were also lower at 53% compared to 57% in 2013 while outflows increased minimally. The movement of FDI flows in 2014 was influenced by uncertainties on the timing and magnitude of the US monetary policy rate normalization as well as the uneven global economic recovery. In 2014, about 68% of the inflows to the APEC region went to five member economies, equivalent to USD 446 billion, while 79% of the FDI outflows worth USD 761 billion came from five APEC members.
On average, it takes 6 procedures to start a business in APEC economies in 2014. In industrialized APEC economies this average is 4 procedures, while it takes 7 procedures in developing economies. The average number of days to start a business in APEC went down from 28 days to 21 days between 2010 and 2014. It takes three times longer to start a business in developing economies than in industrialized economies: in 2014, it took 26 days to start a business in developing economies, compared with 7 days in industrialized economies.
Full report