UN Report takes Comprehensive look at Progress and Challenges in Asia-Pacific

Bangkok (UN ESCAP Information Services) – Recent trends in the Asia-Pacific region documented in a new United Nations report show increases in research and development spending and access to technology, unemployment rates staying low because of employment in the informal sector, and high rates of communicable and non-communicable diseases and smoking.

These findings are contained in the Statistical Yearbook for Asia and the Pacific 2009, released today by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). The Yearbook is the region’s leading compilation of statistical data and provides a detailed picture of the major economic, social and environmental trends over the past two decades.

“The Yearbook provides readers with a comparison of economic, social and environmental trends in Asia-Pacific and between Asia-Pacific and other regions,” said Noeleen Heyzer, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of ESCAP.

“There are still millions of people in Asia who work in the informal sector, and stand outside of formal statistics. We must work to improve our ability to gather this information. Without accurate data to develop good policies, these people remain uncounted and unprotected”

According to Dr. Heyzer, the trends documented in the Yearbook show poverty is reducing and the region is catching up with the rest of the world, but they also point out areas in need of improvement, such as health care, education, social protection, sustainable development and providing basic infrastructure and services for all.

Unemployment remains artificially low

Formal unemployment averages around 5 per cent in the Asia Pacific region even during hard economic times where the unemployment level would be expected to rise- according to data compiled up to 2008, the most recent information available. This is because many of the people who would be otherwise unemployed have found work in the informal sector, which can provide little to no social protection or security and does not help create long-term sustainability for development.

Asia-Pacific region spending more on research and development

From 2002 to 2007, Asia and the Pacific increased its overall share of global spending on research and development, more than any other world region, with the main contributor being China.

However, despite the rapid growth in research, the region still has a lower proportion of researchers per population than all other regions except Africa. Thus, it still has a lot to do in terms of training and job creation to catch up with the leading countries.

Another way of accelerating development is to bridge the digital divide by providing access to technology and the Internet. The number of Internet users in the region increased from 160 million in 2001 to 712 million in 2008. However, a number of countries have yet to reach the figure of one person per 100 – as with Bangladesh, Cambodia, Myanmar and Timor-Leste.

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Source: UNESCAP