THE 10 MEMBER ECONOMIC BLOC OF 628 MILLION ASEAN HITS ITS GOLDEN 50 JUBILIEE - INDONESIA, MALAYSIA, PHILIPPINES, SINGAPORE, THAILAND IN 1967 ADDED AFTER BRUNEI, CAMBODIA, LAOS, MYANMAR, VIETNAM

Fast facts about Asean@50

• Asean has the biggest population of any geopolitical bloc - totalling more than 628 million people (nearly 10 per cent of the world's population).
• Its member states have a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of US$2.5 trillion (S$3.4 trillion), up from US$1.3 trillion seven years ago.
• The Asean economy is the third largest in Asia and the sixth largest in the world, with the regional GDP growth rate higher than the global average.
• More than half of its population is under 30 years old.
• There is a wide disparity in population size. It ranges from 417,000 in Brunei to 255 million in Indonesia.
• Indonesia's GDP is still three times larger than the combined GDP of Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar. The country's GDP is also close to the GDP of Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore combined.
• The country with the highest percentage of exports going to Asean markets is landlocked Laos (65 per cent). In second place is Myanmar, which sends 42 per cent of its total exports to Asean countries. The rest of Asean are at around 25 per cent.
• The top exporter to Asean markets is Singapore, followed by Malaysia and Thailand. Despite being the bloc's largest economy, Indonesia ranks fourth as an exporter to Asean.
• Thailand remains the manufacturing superpower in South-east Asia, with more than 420,000 manufacturing establishments. Cambodia has 71,000 establishments, Vietnam 63,000 and Indonesia 24,000.
• There are 227 companies in Asean with revenues over US$1 billion.
• There is a wide disparity in income per capita, ranging from US$1,246 in Myanmar to US$52,000 in Singapore.
• Overall competitiveness has been improving. According to the World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Report 2016-2017, Singapore ranks No. 2. Five others - Malaysia (No. 18), Thailand (No. 32), Indonesia (No. 37), the Philippines (No. 47) and Vietnam (No. 56) - figure in the top half of the index.
• Within Asean, Malaysia sends the highest number of students (53,000) to international locations outside the region, followed by Vietnam (52,000) and Indonesia (33,000). Malaysia also receives the largest share of inbound international students, followed by Singapore.
• Malaysia and Thailand each receives significantly more international tourists (27 million and 24 million respectively) than their next Asean peers.
• Disputes over control of parts of the South China Sea remain a cause of worry. Improving infrastructure and IT capability are key challenges.

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