Five Fast-Growing Economies That Are Not In Asia

In recent years, the center of global economic growth has clearly shifted to Asia, providing a major boost for most of the major economies in that region.  In fact, in recent years, almost all of the world’s fastest-growing economies have been found in Asia.  For example, countries such as China, India, Vietnam and the Philippines have managed to consistently achieve rates of economic growth in excess of 6% per year in recent years, something that almost no economy outside of Asia has been able to do.  In fact, many of the economies outside of Asia that had managed to reach such a level of growth earlier in this decade, such as Brazil and Russia, have found growth much harder to generate in recent years.  However, a handful of economies outside of Asia have managed to grow at a very strong pace in recent years, despite being located in regions where economic growth has generally been much lower.

Turkey: While political unrest and weak export markets have prevented Turkey from maintaining consistent levels of high economic growth, the Turkish economy has nevertheless managed to grow by an average of more than 6% per year during this decade.  Furthermore, Turkey’s economy has bounced back much faster than expected from 2016’s political unrest that included a failed coup attempt and major conflicts along Turkey’s southern border.

Ireland: The Irish economy was hit very hard by the global financial crisis that brought a temporary end to two decades of some of Europe’s highest levels of economic growth.  However, following five years of economic dislocation (2009-2013), the Irish economy has rebounded in a major way and is now growing at a level well above that of all other European economies.  In fact, Ireland is quickly passing its European neighbors in terms of per capita GDP to become one of that region’s wealthiest countries.

Romania: While economic growth rates have trended upwards across much of central and eastern Europe in recent months, no country in that region has managed to match the soaring rates of economic growth achieved in Romania.  This growth has been generated despite Romania’s shrinking domestic market, as the country instead has developed one of the region’s most competitive export-oriented manufacturing sectors in recent years.

Dominican Republic: Latin America has recorded lower levels of economic growth in recent years than any other region in the world.  However, one country that has bucked this trend is the Dominican Republic, which continues to enjoy some of the highest rates of economic growth of any country in the world.  Over the past four years, the Dominican economy has expanded by an average of 6.5% per year, the highest rate of growth in the Western Hemisphere during that period.

Ivory Coast: The Ivory Coast has bounced back from the dislocations caused by the internal conflicts that devastated its economy earlier this decade to record some of Africa’s highest levels of economic growth in recent years.  Moreover, rising demand for cocoa and other agricultural products from the Ivory Coast will continue to boost growth in that country, while its leading city, Abidjan, regains its status as one of West Africa’s leading commercial hubs.

Without question, it is much harder for countries outside of Asia to sustain high rates of economic growth at this point in time.  This is due to the fact that China and other large Asian economies are generating nearly half of all of the economic growth in the world today.  However, the five countries listed above have proven that strong and consistent rates of economic growth can be achieved through sensible economic policies and access to wealthier export markets. An analysis of each of these five successful non-Asian economies shows that the keys to their recent success have been the ability to improve their economic competitiveness, as well as their access to larger export markets such as the United States or the European Union.  Furthermore, while each of these countries are dealing with actual or potential disruptions, they have successfully shielded their economies from these threats.  For countries that are struggling to generate economic growth, emulating the success of these five countries would be a good place to start.  In fact, many countries are already trying to do just that.