Brunei is No 2 in Asia for Internet use, GDP per capita

Brunei posted the second largest GDP per capita in purchasing power parities (PPP) terms in Asia for 2009 at US$48,194 ($67,472) for the year of 2009, not registering much difference from 2008 which was listed at US$48,851, an Asian Development Bank (ADB) report stated.

ADB's 'Key Indicators for Asia and the Pacific 2010', released late last month, showed first place Singapore listed at US$50,800, while Hong Kong was right behind Brunei at US$43,046.

In 2008, Brunei was also the second largest, according to ADB's previous key indicator report, with both economies almost on par in the above mentioned category.

The three countries were followed by Australia, Japan, Taipei, Korea and Malaysia which were all listed as Higher Income Economies by the bank.

ADB explained that PPP have been used to convert the data in national currencies to international dollars.

"Converting GDP to international dollars using PPPs eliminates differences in price levels among countries so that comparisons reflect only differences in the volume of goods and services.

Using PPPs to compare real differences in GDP among countries for a single year is like using constant prices to compare the real growth of GDP between years for a single country," they explained.

The report added that there is not necessarily a link between the total size of GDP and GDP on a per capita basis. For example, countries with low per capita GDP such as India and Indonesia account for substantial shares of total GDP in the region, while economies with high per capita GDP like Singapore and Brunei generate relatively small shares of regional GDP.

The key indicators report also showed that Brunei's real GDP growth in 2009 improved to less than negative 0.5 per cent from negative 1.9 per cent in 2008.

A significant improvement for Brunei is the percentile of population who are exposed to the Internet in 2009, listed at 80 per cent, as opposed to 2008, where there were only a little more than 50 per cent. This result placed Brunei second, right behind Korea in terms of Internet users in 2009 out of all Asian countries. In 2008, Brunei was seeded at ninth in terms of Internet penetration.

ADB in July forecasted a 1.1 per cent growth for Brunei this year and 1.5 per cent next year.

The bank said "higher energy prices should help the economy grow by 1.1 per cent" this year as it lifted 2010 growth forecast for 14 East Asian economies and urged governments to unwind stimulus measures launched during the global recession.

In its Asian Development Outlook 2010 report released in April, the ADB said the Brunei economy is expected to grow by 1.1 per cent in 2010.

"Some progress on diversification has been achieved, despite the small size of the domestic market, but weaknesses in institutional capacity and the business environment need to be overcome before new industries can become an important source of growth.

"While the government has accumulated abundant financial resources to promote diversification, slow progress in implementing government-funded projects points to a need to improve the bureaucracy's capacity," the report said.

The Brunei Times