Economic Insights from Input–Output Tables for Asia and the Pacific presents indicators and analyses covering 25 select economies in Asia and the Pacific for 2019 and 2020.

The economies assessed in this publication are Bangladesh; Bhutan; Brunei Darussalam; Cambodia; Fiji; Hong Kong, China; India; Indonesia; Japan; Kazakhstan; the Kyrgyz Republic; the Lao People’s Democratic Republic; Malaysia; Maldives; Mongolia; Nepal; Pakistan; the People’s Republic of China; the Philippines; the Republic of Korea; Singapore; Sri Lanka; Taipei,China; Thailand; and Viet Nam.

Underpinning all statistics and analyses is the Asian Development Bank’s Multiregional Input–Output Database, which contains national and bilateral sectoral flows for 62 national economies. These economies comprised more than 90% of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2020. Anchored on the 2008 System of National Accounts, the structure of the multiregional input–output tables (MRIOTs) is broadly described in the introduction, including the general sources and methods for compilation of these tables. Due to more disaggregated information contained in the MRIOTs, the number of analyses has significantly expanded since 2015, in parallel with major developments in the global economy. As such, this publication serves to centralize this additional knowledge by presenting a consolidated database of all major statistical and analytical indicators based on an input–output framework.

As a preview of these indicators, the chapter on domestic linkages describes the basic economic aggregates, multipliers, and linkages from a national input–output table (NIOT).

By construction, the orientation of analysis in a NIOT puts emphasis on domestic sectors’ supply and use relationships and their capacity to induce economic growth or contraction in the local economy. Variants of multipliers and measures of linkages are presented with the objective of quantifying a sector’s impact on, and contribution to, the domestic economy.

Findings from this chapter reveal that, while final demand in 2020 generally contracted in the select economies of the Asia and Pacific region, output multipliers expanded on average as a result of increased intersectoral trade. Further, analysis of linkages highlights the economic importance of food and beverage manufacturing and refined petroleum sectors across several economies in the region.