Gross Domestic Product by Arable Land in Asia

The chart above shows economic output as it relates to arable land.  The countries to the top left have a larger ratio of gross domestic product (GDP) to arable land, while countries to the bottom right have a smaller ratio of GDP to arable land.  Singapore, Hong Kong, and Bahrain have the largest ratio of GDP to area whereas Afghanistan, Cambodia, and Kazakhstan have the smallest ratio of GDP to area.

Findings

• Six countries have a GDP per square kilometer of arable land of over one billion international dollars.
• Afghanistan has the smallest ratio of GDP to arable land with an economy of just over 800,000 times that of its arable land in square kilometers.
• Singapore has the largest ratio of GDP to arable land with an economy of over 51 billion times that of its arable land in square kilometers.
• Afghanistan is also the only country with a GDP per square kilometer of under one million international dollars.

Caveats

• Arable land may be a better attribute to use than total land area because it indicates where people are willing to live however, countries are likely to have resources beyond what can be found within their arable lands.
• British Indian Ocean Territory, Brunei Darussalam, Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, North Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Macao, Myanmar, Palestine, and Syria were missing data.

Details

South and Central Asian countries do not fare so well in this metric.  Seven out of the ten worst performers come from this part of Asia.  Countries from the Arabic peninsula however, fare much better, partly due to the fact that they have so little arable land.

Aside from small states and countries from very arid regions, South Korea and Japan are the best performers on this metric.

Data

Code	Country	Arable Land (square km)	GDP (in millions)	GDP Per Square Kilometer
AF	Afghanistan	77,612	67,462	869,221.25
KH	Cambodia	41,087	64,405	1,567,527.44
KZ	Kazakhstan	221,059	472,563	2,137,723.41
LA	Laos	14,682	44,639	3,040,389.59
TL	Timor-Leste	1,502	4,567	3,040,612.52
TJ	Tajikistan	8,790	27,802	3,162,912.4
NP	Nepal	22,227	77,147	3,470,868.76
PK	Pakistan	219,724	1,060,569	4,826,823.65
UZ	Uzbekistan	45,187	222,792	4,930,444.6
TM	Turkmenistan	20,008	103,987	5,197,271.09
IN	India	1,753,694	9,489,302	5,411,036.36
AM	Armenia	4,693	27,116	5,777,967.19
MN	Mongolia	6,256	37,731	6,031,170.08
YE	Yemen	11,616	74,250	6,392,045.45
BT	Bhutan	998	7,045	7,059,118.24
TH	Thailand	158,035	1,226,407	7,760,350.56
BD	Bangladesh	87,615	686,598	7,836,534.84
AZ	Azerbaijan	19,745	167,431	8,479,665.74
IR	Iran	178,006	1,535,491	8,626,063.17
VN	Vietnam	68,227	648,243	9,501,267.83
GE	Georgia	4,043	39,318	9,724,956.72
TR	Turkey	209,211	2,082,079	9,952,053.19
ID	Indonesia	247,598	3,257,123	13,154,884.13
PH	Philippines	54,600	878,980	16,098,534.8
IQ	Iraq	36,817	641,005	17,410,571.2
LK	Sri Lanka	13,579	278,415	20,503,350.76
CN	China	1,084,461	23,194,411	21,387,962.31
CY	Cyprus	906	31,093	34,318,984.55
JO	Jordan	1,787	89,555	50,114,717.4
SA	Saudi Arabia	32,250	1,796,205	55,696,279.07
LB	Lebanon	1,238	88,786	71,717,285.95
MY	Malaysia	9,567	922,057	96,378,906.66
IL	Israel	2,850	316,120	110,919,298.25
JP	Japan	44,226	5,420,228	122,557,500.11
KR	South Korea	15,254	2,029,706	133,060,574.28
MV	Maldives	40	5,853	146,325,000
TW	Taiwan	6,084	1,177,052	193,466,798.16
OM	Oman	310	189,582	611,554,838.71
AE	United Arab Emirates	418	693,765	1,659,724,880.38
QA	Qatar	128	347,887	2,717,867,187.5
KW	Kuwait	106	309,640	2,921,132,075.47
BH	Bahrain	19	69,922	3,680,105,263.16
HK	Hong Kong	53	449,589	8,482,811,320.75
SG	Singapore	10	514,837	51,483,700,000

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.