Time to reinvigorate demand across Asia-Pacific

The Year-end Update of the Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific 2015, published by the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, identifies an emerging slowdown in the region's economic growth, which has implications for Asia and the Pacific's continued ability to drive the global economic recovery.

Economic growth in the region is expected to plateau at about 5 percent in 2016. The year 2015 saw only 4.5 percent growth, compared with markedly better average growth of 9.4 percent in the pre-crisis period between 2005 and 2007. Deceleration in growth does not augur well for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development, which is why effective diagnostics are the primary focus of the ESCAP update.

Four key factors have had an impact on regional economic performance, which will also have a significant global impact: