East Asia Economic Bloc to Surpass the Euro Nations in 2010

The combined economies of the ASEAN 10 nations of East Asia, Japan, China and South Korea are set to surpass that of the Euro nations by 2010, just as China's economy is eclipsing Japan's.

According to IMF forecasts, the East Asia group's combined GDP in USD will reach 12.668 trillion by December 2009, and account for 21.1% of the global economy. In 2010, these economies as a group are expected to growth 6.8% and exceed the aggregate GDP of the Euro nations (USD12.7133 trillion). By 2014, these economies should be USD17.3445 trillion and approach the US economy (USD17.4194 trillion) in scale.

At the same time, the relative importance of Japan in the region continues to shrink. Japan's share of East Asian GDP was 42% in 2009, but will shrink to 33% by 2014, while China's share rises to 39% in 2009 and on to 48% by 2014.