Tracking Asian exports

Asia’s exports have witnessed rapid expansion over the past decades. Its share in world exports went from below 5% to the current 23%, second only to the Eurozone. Asia’s trade is not only important in a global context, but is also an important driver of economic growth, as reflected in the high trade-to-GDP ratio for many Asian economies.

Asia’s export structure went through fundamental changes before and after the global financial crisis (GFC) including: 1) a decline in trade elasticity, indicating that exports growth has been slower than domestic activities; 2) an apparent end to the convergence of Asia’s trade with emerging (EMs) and developed markets (DMs), suggesting the export slowdown