APO Productivity Databook 2026 Highlights Asia’s Continued Economic Expansion

TOKYO, Oct 7 (Bernama) -- The Asian Productivity Organization (APO) has released the 19th edition of the APO Productivity Databook, which provides harmonized comparisons of Asia’s economic growth and productivity from 1970 through 2024, with projections through 2035. The 2026 edition presents economic growth and labor productivity indicators for 38 Asian economies: the 21 APO member economies (APO21) and 17 nonmember economies, collectively referred to as Asia38.

For APO member economies, the Databook reports that average annual growth in per-hour labor productivity moderated from 2.9% in 2015–2019 to 2.5% in 2019–2024, while average annual total factor productivity (TFP) growth remained at 1.0% in both periods. Beyond these aggregate measures, the Databook examines changes in productivity, industrial structure, and the composition of demand within and across APO member economies.