Asia Investments
Asia is the World’s largest continent, made up of about 17.2m sq miles or 30% of Earth’s total land area and 8.7% of the Earth’s total surface area. It is home to some 4.4bn people.
Asia is bounded on the east by the Pacific Ocean, on the south by the Indian Ocean and on the north by the Arctic Ocean. The continent is subdivided into 48 countries, two of them (Russia and Turkey) having part of their land in Europe.
Economic growth in Asia
Economic growth in Asia since WWII to the 1990s had been concentrated in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore, all of which now have ‘developed country’ status. In the late 80s/early 90s Japan’s GDP was almost as large as the rest of Asia combined, and in 1995 the Japanese economy nearly equalled that of the USA as the largest economy in the world!
Chinese and Indian economies experienced rapid growth at the turn of the Millennium, with the average annual growth measuring more than 8%.
Analysist predict India will over-take Japan in terms of nominal GDP by 2020, and by 2027 China will have the largest economy on the world.
With so much growth witnessed, and more predicted in the Asian markets, now could be the time to invest there….
Asia’s housing market
In terms of rental yield, the best places to invest in Asia are;
- Jakarta, Indonesia
- Bangkok, Thailand
- Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
However, certain restrictions on foreign landlords and property owners and even political unrest are considerations in certain parts of the Asian market. The Overseas Investment team at Mistoria can guide you on finding the most suitable location for your investment, and appropriate ways to set up your portfolio whilst staying within the laws of the country.
Safer, but perhaps less lucrative, Asian property centres are;
- Tokyo, Japan
- Mumbai, India
- Hong Kong, China
Moderate yields can be expected in these areas, whilst also offering the security of political and economic stability and strong pro-landlord systems and rental markets.
Why invest in property in Asia?
The Global Property Guide is a great resource for learning more about the property markets in any given area. Here are some quick links to the key Asian stats and facts:
Economy
Currency: Japanese Yen (JPY): 1 GBP = 139.89 JPY
Population: 127m
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of JPY: £3.61 trillion as of 2016
GDP rank: 3rd (nominally) / 4th (PPP)
GDP per capita: £36600.93 (2015, Nominal), £29345.32 (2015, PPP)
GDP growth rate: 0.3% annual change (2015)
GDP by sector: agriculture: 1.2%, industry: 27.5%, services: 71.4% (2012 est.)
Employment
Unemployment rate: 3.4% (2015)
Labour force: 66 million (2011 est.)
Labour force by occupation: agriculture: 3.9%, industry: 26.2%, services: 69.8% (2010 est.)
Main industries: motor vehicles, electronic equipment, machine tools, steel and nonferrous metals, ships, chemicals, textiles, processed foods.
Trade
Exports: £570.49bn (2013 est.)
Export goods: motor vehicles 13.6%; semiconductors 6.2%; iron and steel products 5.5%; auto parts 4.6%; plastic materials 3.5%; power generating machinery 3.5%.
Main export partners (2015): United States 20.2%, China 17.5%, South Korea 7.1%, Hong Kong 5.6%, Thailand 4.5%
Imports: £627.79bn (2013 est.)
Import goods: petroleum 15.5%; liquid natural gas 5.7%; clothing 3.9%; semiconductors 3.5%; coal 3.5%; audio and visual apparatus 2.7%.
Main import partners (2015): China 24.8%, United States 10.5%, Australia 5.4%, South Korea 4.1%
Economy
Currency: Chinese Yuan (CNY): 1 GBP = 8.45 CNY
Population: 1.357 billion (2013)
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of CNY: £9.32 trillion (2016, Nominal) / £17.41 trillion (2016, PPP)
GDP rank: 2nd (nominally) / 1st (PPP)
GDP per capita: £6761.63 (2016, Nominal), £12,624.54 (2016, PPP)
GDP growth rate: 6.7% annual change (2016)
GDP by sector: agriculture: 9%, industry: 40.5%, services: 50.5% (2015)
Employment
Unemployment rate: 4.05% (2015)
Labour force: 807 million (2015)
Labour force by occupation: agriculture: 29.5%, industry: 29.9%, services: 40.6% (2014)
Main industries: mining and ore processing, iron, steel, aluminum, and other metals, coal; textiles and apparel; petroleum; cement; chemicals; fertilizers; consumer products, including footwear, toys, and electronics; food processing; transportation equipment, including automobiles, rail cars and locomotives, ships, aircraft and other vehicles; telecommunication and industrial equipment; machinery; heavy engineering; commercial space launch vehicles, satellites, manufacturing.
Trade
Exports: £1.88 trillion (2015)
Export goods: Electrical and other machinery, including data processing equipment, apparel, textiles, iron and steel, optical and medical equipment, as well as almost every single category of industrial products.
Main export partners (2014): United States 16.9%, Hong Kong 15.5%, Japan 6.4%, South Korea 4.3%
Imports: £1.39 trillion (2015)
Import goods: electrical and other machinery, oil and mineral fuels, optical and medical equipment, metal ores, plastics, organic chemicals.
Main import partners (2014): South Korea 9.7%, Japan 8.3%, United States 8.1%, Taiwan 7.8%, Germany 5.4%, Australia 5%
Economy
Currency: Indian Rupee (INR): 1 GBP = 80.871 INR
Population: 1.252 billion (2013)
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of INR: £2.13 trillion (2017, Nominal) / £7.85 trillion (2017, PPP)
GDP rank: 6th (Nominally) / 3rd (PPP)
GDP per capita: £1515.86 (2017, Nominal), £5912.84 (2017, PPP)
GDP growth rate: 7.6% annual change (2017)
GDP by sector: agriculture: 16.5%, industry: 29.8%, services: 45.4% (2016 est.)
Employment
Unemployment rate: 4.90% (2013)
Labour force: 513.7 million (2016 est.)
Labour force by occupation: agriculture: 49%, industry: 20%, services: 31% (2012 est.)
Main industries: software, petroleum products, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, textiles, steel, transportation equipment, machinery, leather, cement, mining, construction.
Trade
Exports: £222.96bn (2015)
Export goods: software, petrochemicals, agriculture, leather, jewellery, engineering goods, pharmaceuticals, textiles, chemicals, transportation, ores and other commodities.
Main export partners (2015): European Union (16.9%), United States (15.2%), United Arab Emirates (11.3%), Hong Kong (4.6%)
Imports: £334.93bn (2015)
Import goods: crude oil, gold and precious stones, electronics, engineering goods, chemicals, plastics, coal and ores, iron and steel, vegetable oil and other commodities.
Main import partners (2015): China (15.8%), European Union (11.2%), Saudi Arabia (5.5%), Switzerland (5.4%)
Opportunity
Singapore is the market to watch…
Singapore’s housing market has a reputation of being strong and steadfast, with an economy to match. A leading cosmopolitan centre, the country enjoys high legal and regulatory transparency.
Even if the Government ease residential cooling measures, as many predict they will, this should drive investment, especially in the luxury residential sector. Foreigner investors should also consider returning to the market with attractive offers such as the eventual relaxing or scrapping of the additional buyer’s stamp duty currently levied on foreign owners.
