A survey shows that many Asian countries are ebullient about prospects this year, and even China is putting on a brave face as we head into the Year of the Snake.
Individual optimism seems to be ingrained into the regional ethos and this year seems no different. Who can’t remember the rallying call of the 2010s about the region being the only source of anything and everything growth - while the rest of the world sat twiddling their thumbs in stultifying bureaucracies and overly burdensome tax regimes.
Now, an infographic published by Visual Capitalist based on an Ipsos survey conducted between the end of October and early November puts solid numbers behind this year’s batch of positivity.
Nine in Ten
Indonesia ranks first worldwide, with 90 percent of those polled saying that they were optimistic 2025 would be better than last year.
Visual Capitalist called it an «overwhelming majority» with 90 percent believing their physical health will improve this year while 92 percent thinking their mental health will.
New Jobs
They also mentioned that the country continues to experience buoyant growth, with GDP again seen rising more than 5 percent this year.
«Indonesians are also feeling good about technology and the economy. When asked whether artificial intelligence will create new jobs in their country, 74 percent of Indonesians agreed (second only to China, where 77 percent of people agreed),» they indicated.
Happy Mainlanders
The mainland itself put in a surprisingly strong showing by coming in third, with 87 percent of those surveyed agreeing the end of the Year of the Dragon, normally a very auspicious year, is more than likely to be outdone by the Year of the Snake.
The irony here is that GDP growth in China lags the rest of the region on a per capita basis and is expected to continue to do so, as another infographic shows -although the truth is one should never count the mainland entirely out when it comes to economic matters.
Continued Difficulties
Still, that is a heady chunk of China-based optimism as we head into 2025, particularly given the continuing real estate crisis, and tepid growth, highlighted by recently released disappointing manufacturing data - something that is currently prompting the country’s equity market to get off to a very shaky start.
Yet the prevailing optimism is also mirrored in Asia’s confidence in the global economy, as another infographic shows. Both Indonesia and China lead the region at 82 percent and 78 percent respectively, clearly outdoing the rest of the world, with Europe clearly the most pessimistic.
Rest of Southeast Asia
But we digress. Getting back to the first infographic, we can see that other Southeast Asian countries did pretty well, with the Philippines exactly matching China’s sense of optimism, followed by Malaysia in eighth place and Thailand in ninth.
India and Singapore surprisingly, aren’t quite as ebullient as the rest, with the former coming in 13th (76 percent) and the latter 15th (72 percent).
Glaring Exception
But Asia wouldn’t be Asia if there weren’t regional extremes. If Indonesia thinks these are the best of times, then Japan thinks they are the worst.
The ranked dead last worldwide in the Ipsos survey, with 63 percent of those who answered disagreeing that 2025 would be better than 2024. Moreover, only 28 percent of them think the global economy will strengthen this year, way below the global average of 51 percent.
