Tokyo: The Asian Productivity Organization (APO) has launched the 18th edition of the APO Productivity Databook, which offers comprehensive analyses of economic growth and productivity trends across Asia from 1970 to 2023, with projections extending to 2035. The 2025 edition examines 33 Asian economies, including 21 APO members and 12 nonmember Asian economies, and provides comparisons with major advanced economies such as Australia, France, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. This edition incorporates Afghanistan and the Maldives for the first time.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, the Databook is founded on the APO Productivity Database (APO-PDB) 2025 and aligns its comparisons with the 2021 International Comparison Program purchasing power parity benchmark. It also integrates the Asia Quality-adjusted Labor Input Database (AQALI) and the Asia Natural Resources Database (ANRD) to refine measurements of labor quality and natural-resource assets. These enhancements bolster the evidence base regarding the roles of capital, labor, and total factor productivity (TFP) in Asia’s economic growth. Additionally, the Databook provides regional productivity accounts for Asia27 (APO21 plus Afghanistan, Bhutan, Brunei, China, the Maldives, and Myanmar), ASEAN, East Asia, and SAARC, facilitating consistent regional analysis.