Developing Asia To Grow Faster in 2024 Despite China Slowdown, ADB Says

Developing Asia is set to grow faster this year—despite China’s slowdown—on the back of “robust domestic demand, improving semiconductor exports, and recovering tourism,” the Asian Development Bank said Thursday.

Developing economies in Asia and the Pacific are forecast to expand by 4.9% on average this year and the next, the ADB said. The stronger growth in South and Southeast Asia is offsetting a slowdown in China “caused by weakness in the property market and subdued consumption,” the bank said.

There are, however, risks to the growth forecasts, according to the ADB, namely “supply chain disruptions, uncertainty about U.S. monetary policy, the effects of extreme weather, and further property market weakness” in China.

China’s economy is set to slow to 4.8% growth in 2024—a lower forecast than the yearly growth target of “around 5%” the Chinese government issued last month—and 4.5% in 2025 from 5.2% last year, according to the ADB.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in February that it expects China’s GDP growth to slow to 4.6% in 2024 from around 5% last year, while global ratings agencies Fitch and Moody’s have downgraded their outlooks for China to “negative” from “stable” recently.

While the ADB said China will remain the largest growth engine for the world economy in spite of its slowdown, it added India “is expected to remain a major growth engine in Asia and the Pacific.” India’s GDP is expected to expand by 7% in 2024 and 7.2% in 2025, the bank said.