The economy of Asia comprises more than 4 billion people (60% of the world population), living in 46 different states. In addition to this, there are six further states that lie partly in Asia, but are considered to belong to another region economically and politically.

As in all world regions, the wealth of Asia differs widely between, and within, states. This is due to its vast size, meaning a huge range of differing cultures, environments, historical ties and government systems. The largest economies in Asia in terms of nominal GDP are Japan and China. This demonstrates the huge disparity in wealth in Asia, with Japan being the world’s second largest economy by nominal GDP, and Cambodia being one of the poorest.

In terms of GDP by purchasing power parity however, China has the largest economy in Asia and the second largest economy in the world, followed by Japan and India as the world’s third and fourth largest economies respectively. South Korea also has one of the largest economies in Asia and the 11th largest in the world by nominal GDP.