Gross Domestic Product by Land Area in Asia

The chart above shows economic output as it relates to land area.  The countries to the top left of the diagonal line have a gross domestic product (GDP) of over one million international dollars per square kilometer, while countries to the bottom right have a GDP that is less than one million dollars per square kilometer.  Singapore, Hong Kong, and Bahrain have the largest ratio of GDP to area whereas Mongolia, Afghanistan, and Yemen have the smallest ratio of GDP to area.

Findings

• Asia has three countries that make over 100 million international dollars per square kilometer.
• Mongolia has the smallest ratio of GDP to area with an economy of just over 24,000 times that of its area in square kilometers.
• Singapore has the largest ratio of GDP to area with an economy of just over 753 million times that of its area in square kilometers.
• Only Mongolia has a GDP that is less than 100,000 international dollars per square kilometer.

Caveats

• A country with a large landmass and a small population is likely to have a smaller ratio, whereas a small country with a large population density can have a larger ratio.  Thus the data may not reflect how productive a country is.
• British Indian Ocean Territory, Brunei Darussalam, Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, North Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Macao, Myanmar, Palestine, and Syria were missing data.

Details

Once again, just like in Europe, former Soviet republics do not fare so well.  Only Azerbaijan manages to make over one million international dollars per square kilometers.

As far as the countries of the Arabian peninsula, only Oman, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen make less than one million international dollars per square kilometer.  Even war torn Iraq manages to pull off a GDP of over one million international dollars per square kilometer.

South Asia is split with two countries (Nepal and Bhutan) making less than one million international dollars per square kilometer while the other five (Pakistan, India, Maldives, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh) make more than one million international dollars per square kilometer likely due to their high population densities.

Mongolia is the only East Asian state to make less than one million dollars per square kilometer.

Data

Code	Country	Area (square km)	GDP (in millions)	GDP Per Square Kilometer
MN	Mongolia	1,564,116	37,731	24,122.89
AF	Afghanistan	652,230	67,462	103,432.84
YE	Yemen	527,968	74,250	140,633.52
KZ	Kazakhstan	2,724,900	472,563	173,423.98
BT	Bhutan	38,394	7,045	183,492.21
LA	Laos	236,800	44,639	188,509.29
TJ	Tajikistan	144,100	27,802	192,935.46
TM	Turkmenistan	488,100	103,987	213,044.46
TL	Timor-Leste	14,874	4,567	307,045.85
KH	Cambodia	181,035	64,405	355,759.94
UZ	Uzbekistan	447,400	222,792	497,970.50
NP	Nepal	147,181	77,147	524,164.12
GE	Georgia	69,700	39,318	564,103.30
OM	Oman	309,500	189,582	612,542.81
SA	Saudi Arabia	2,149,690	1,796,205	835,564.66
AM	Armenia	29,743	27,116	911,676.70
IR	Iran	1,648,195	1,535,491	931,619.74
JO	Jordan	89,342	89,555	1,002,384.10
PK	Pakistan	796,095	1,060,569	1,332,214.12
IQ	Iraq	438,317	641,005	1,462,423.31
ID	Indonesia	1,904,569	3,257,123	1,710,162.77
AZ	Azerbaijan	86,600	167,431	1,933,383.37
VN	Vietnam	331,210	648,243	1,957,196.34
TH	Thailand	513,120	1,226,407	2,390,097.83
CN	China	9,596,960	23,194,411	2,416,849.81
TR	Turkey	783,562	2,082,079	2,657,197.52
MY	Malaysia	329,847	922,057	2,795,408.17
IN	India	3,287,263	9,489,302	2,886,687.80
PH	Philippines	300,000	878,980	2,929,933.33
CY	Cyprus	9,251	31,093	3,361,042.05
LK	Sri Lanka	65,610	278,415	4,243,484.22
BD	Bangladesh	148,460	686,598	4,624,801.29
AE	United Arab Emirates	83,600	693,765	8,298,624.40
LB	Lebanon	10,400	88,786	8,537,115.38
JP	Japan	377,915	5,420,228	14,342,452.67
IL	Israel	20,770	316,120	15,220,028.89
KW	Kuwait	17,818	309,640	17,377,932.43
MV	Maldives	300	5,853	19,510,000.00
KR	South Korea	99,720	2,029,706	20,354,051.34
QA	Qatar	11,586	347,887	30,026,497.50
TW	Taiwan	35,980	1,177,052	32,714,063.37
BH	Bahrain	665	69,922	105,145,864.66
HK	Hong Kong	1,042	449,589	431,467,370.44
SG	Singapore	683	514,837	753,787,701.32

Sources

"Report for Selected Countries and Subjects."  https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2017/01/weodata/weorept.aspx?pr.x=43&pr.y=19&sy=2017&ey=2017&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&c=512%2C672%2C914%2C946%2C612%2C137%2C614%2C546%2C311%2C962%2C213%2C674%2C911%2C676%2C193%2C548%2C122%2C556%2C912%2C678%2C313%2C181%2C419%2C867%2C513%2C682%2C316%2C684%2C913%2C273%2C124%2C868%2C339%2C921%2C638%2C948%2C514%2C943%2C218%2C686%2C963%2C688%2C616%2C518%2C223%2C728%2C516%2C558%2C918%2C138%2C748%2C196%2C618%2C278%2C624%2C692%2C522%2C694%2C622%2C142%2C156%2C449%2C626%2C564%2C628%2C565%2C228%2C283%2C924%2C853%2C233%2C288%2C632%2C293%2C636%2C566%2C634%2C964%2C238%2C182%2C662%2C359%2C960%2C453%2C423%2C968%2C935%2C922%2C128%2C714%2C611%2C862%2C321%2C135%2C243%2C716%2C248%2C456%2C469%2C722%2C253%2C942%2C642%2C718%2C643%2C724%2C939%2C576%2C644%2C936%2C819%2C961%2C172%2C813%2C132%2C199%2C646%2C733%2C648%2C184%2C915%2C524%2C134%2C361%2C652%2C362%2C174%2C364%2C328%2C732%2C258%2C366%2C656%2C734%2C654%2C144%2C336%2C146%2C263%2C463%2C268%2C528%2C532%2C923%2C944%2C738%2C176%2C578%2C534%2C537%2C536%2C742%2C429%2C866%2C433%2C369%2C178%2C744%2C436%2C186%2C136%2C925%2C343%2C869%2C158%2C746%2C439%2C926%2C916%2C466%2C664%2C112%2C826%2C111%2C542%2C298%2C967%2C927%2C443%2C846%2C917%2C299%2C544%2C582%2C941%2C474%2C446%2C754%2C666%2C698%2C668&s=PPPGDP&grp=0&a=.  International Monetary Fund.

US Department of State.  2017.  "The World Factbook."  Accessed September 21, 2017.  https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2147.html.