Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific 2019: Ambitions beyond growth

The UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) released the 2019 Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific, published annually since 1947. The 2019 Survey consists of four chapters. The first one underlines the social and environmental costs of the Asia-Pacific region’s economic growth over the past 50 years, and the second assesses the economic outlook and policy challenges faced by the region. The third chapter estimates the financial cost of achieving the SDGs through investments in people and planet, and the final chapter concludes on the necessity of cooperation and calls for raising ambition beyond economic growth. SDGs are broken down into five categories and the investment necessary to achieve each of them by 2030 is calculated using several indicators. Overall, the survey estimates that economic conditions in the Asia-Pacific region are stable, and that achieving the SDGs by 2030 would require a significant investment for the developing countries in the region.

Read the full report, the executive summary (ENG.) and the press release. See also the technical appendix.