France is one of Europe's heavyweight economies and typically grows at a rate of 2% a year. However, its national debt is edging ever higher and the State share of the economy is very high, though it has been for several decades. The underlying causes are pensions and healthcare costs. This study lo ...

Thailand is one of the most stable economies in the world having experienced almost continuous growth since the 1960's with only a brief interuption during the Asian financial crisis of the mid 90's. There is a large and growing industrial base but some 30% of the workforce is still engaged in agric ...

Kazakhstan is an ex Soviet Republic that emerged as a State in 1991 and covers a vast area in Central Asia. Most of the first decade of its existence was characterized by a significant economic contraction as the old economic system collpased and a replacement system had yet to emerge. Eventually th ...

Ethiopia since the Millennium is experiencing very rapid economic growth. One of the bottlenecks it faces to maintain the momentum is its very low level of exports but this is also an opportunity if they can be increased. It is still primarily an agricultural economy with the commodities sector unde ...

The UAE has experienced a veritable economic miracle since independence in 1971 and is now one of the wealthiest countries in the world. Its demographic history is unique with the population having increased around 150 fold since 1950. Only 11.5% of the 2025 population of 11.3 million are citizens, ...

Angola won its independence from Portugal in 1975 but the various factions which fought for independence failed to reach an understanding on future governance and a civil war ensued with the Soviet Union?Cuba backing the governing MPLA and the USA/South Africa backing the rebel UNITA. The civil war ...

Malaysia is a diverse country with its population a mix of native Malays, the descendants of Chinese and Indian immigrants in the 19th century and the natives of Northern Borneo. Its territory is a result of the Britisg withdrawal in the post-War period. The popitical system is based on a rotating m ...

Since it was formally launched 2023 China's Belt & Road Initiative has generated considerable debate in the West, not least in the question of debt trap diplomacy. In this study we take a look under the hood to examine what the true situation is. Most important we work from data since the validity o ...

Pakistan is a paradox with a weak economy but ranked among the world's leading military powers (9th in 2024). In the last two decades it has started to fall behind its peers, India and Bangladesh, on social and economic indicators. This study looks at its underlying data and concludes that it is und ...

Since the Millennium Bangladesh has grown at an average rate of about 7% a year with its GDFP PPP per capita having reached US$9k in 2023. Were it to maintain similar growth rates for a further two decades its living standards would be approaching Eastern Europoean levels. Its progress is due to pru ...

This study takes a data driven approach to China's economy. Despite having experienced the highest economic growth in history covering the largest population China attracts a high level of negative commentary in Western media pointing towards its imminent demise. We dispel this myth and show that Ch ...

Economy of Saudi Arabia 2025 Saudi Arabia has long been one of the most pivotal countries in the Middle East and the wider world due to its vast oil reserves. In this study we look at the underlying economic and social data over several decades which reveal considerable progress but also distortions ...

Morocco is one of the more stable Middle Eastern / Islamic countries partly due to its Moinarchy which offers political continuity. Growth is generally steady if unspectacular but the country has made impressive progress in social inclusion and housing and is in the process of acquiring a significan ...

Economy of Russia 2025 Since the Ukraine War started in February 2022 everyone in the West would like to understand how Russia's economy is doing in order to get a feel for how long it can sustain the war effort. This Report works from the underlying data prior to Feb 2022 and what is available sinc ...

Economy of Peru 2024 Peru experienced a severe downturn in the 1980's and ended that decade effectively a failed sate. In the 1990's the Government of Fujimori undertook reforms that restored order to the public finances. Since the Millennium Peru is a much better ruuuuuuuuuun country and regularly ...

Economy of Turkiye 2024 Turikiye is a country at the crossroads between Europe and the Middle East and is also a Black Sea power facing Russia and Ukraine. It has a very strong track record of industrial progress over several decades and its export profile is that of an advanced country. It has rece ...

Economy of Bolivia 2024 Bolivia experienced a major downturn in the early 1980's coinciding with the Latin American debt crisis along with a bout of hyperinflation. Since then it has been better managed and experinced positive growth. However in the last decade revenue from natural gas exports is do ...

Economy of Paraguay 2024 Paraguay is a stable well run country with healthy external accounts and public finances. To continue to progress it needs to increase the rate of formality in employment and continue to develop housing and healthcare. A major anomaly in its trade is that China is the single ...

Economy of Poland 2024 Poland is the largest transition economy in Eastern Europe. Since 1991 its economy has been totally transormed from smoke belching industries integrated into the East to modern industry exporting worldwide. The share of the workforce employed in agriculture has also fallen d ...

Economy of Uruguay 2024 Uruguay has a stable fiscal situation and manageable debt but since 2015 has experienced slow growth. In order to raise the growth rate it needs to integrate further in the industrial supply chains of Brazil and Argentina, invest in niche high value added sectors and continue ...

Economy of Chile 2024 Chile experienced the traum of the Piunochet dictatorship from 1973 to 1990 but at the same time that period created the basis for a funcioning economy which was bequeated to its democratic successors. Chile consistently grows in the 5-6% pa range and is considered a model coun ...

Economy of Colombia 2024 Colombia has somewhat of a negative image in the West due to the drugs cartels but when viewed from the perspective of its progress as a State it is one of the most successful countries in Latin America. It joined the OECD in 2020, has manageable debt and deficits and has a ...

Economy of Brazil 2024 Brazil achieved several decades of rapid growth up to the end of the 1970's. The 1980's were a lost decade as a result of the fallout from the Latin American debt crisis. Inflation was finally brought under control following the introduction of the Real in 1994 and considerab ...

Economy of South Africa 2024 This study is data driven and looks at where South Africa is now, compared with the end of Apartheid, based on a number of economic and social metrics. Contrary to popular misconceptions both the internal accounts and external accounts are reasonably healthy and progres ...

Economy of English Speaking Caribbean - 2024 The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago are considered together in this study. The microstates of the region are not included. Issues discussed are internal budgets, external accounts, economic policies and, in some cases, levels of v ...