14 January 2016: The UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) issued an update to its flagship survey of the region, reporting lower growth in 2015 than expected and calling for inclusive economic growth and stronger productivity to underpin implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Launching the report on 14 January 2016, ESCAP Executive Secretary Shamshad Akhtar said governments have adopted the 2030 Agenda at a time when policymakers “are still struggling to revive economic growth despite taking extraordinary measures.”

The report, titled ‘Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific 2015: Year-End Update,’ finds that developing economies in the region grew at 4.5% in 2015, the lowest regional growth rate since 2010. It forecasts an increase to 5% in 2016. The earlier ESCAP survey report, published in May 2015, had forecast 5.9% growth in 2015, anticipating a slight increase from 5.8% growth in 2014.

The authors observe that reduced commodity prices, slow growth in the US and Europe, and the slowdown in the Chinese economy affected countries in the region. They highlight risks to financial stability and growth in some countries, noting that Thailand’s household debt matches the levels of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, and that China holds more corporate debt than the US.

The report calls for making economic growth more inclusive and strengthening productivity, which has fallen to lower than 1990s levels, and for greater policy attention to the role of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and the agricultural sector. Crucially, it highlights the potential gains from improving productivity, which can be passed on to the labor force as increases in real wages. Overall, the authors recommend shifting from export-led models and debt-fuelled development to approaches in which domestic demand and regional factors become more important. [Publication: Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific 2015: Year-End Update] [ESCAP Press Release] [IISD RS Story on Initial Survey Report]