Populous Asia: A 40-year retrospect

In 1980, Indonesia was the most prosperous. Today, China is streets ahead of the rest

Sometimes it is instructive to step away from the hurly burly of current economic and financial issues in India and glance back at the long-term development record of countries. This column puts together some basic numbers and associated commentary for the five most populous nations of Asia. They (and their respective 2018 populations in millions) are: China (1,395), India (1,334), Indonesia (264), Pakistan (201) and Bangladesh (165). Together these countries comprise 45 per cent of the world’s total population of 7.46 trillion in 2018, with China and India singly accounting for 18.7 per cent and 17.8 per cent, respectively.

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