However, where China comprehensively outshines both India and Asean is in industry. Over half of its income accrues from this sector, while only 22 per cent of the workforce is employed in industry. This indicates a highly productive industrial set-up in China.
India is clearly a nation of farmers. Is Asean a society of shopkeepers? One thing is clear. Industry does not and cannot employ the majority of the working population. The paradox of modern production technology making workers redundant is visible. But without a large industrial base is a large service sector possible?
Looking into the future, favourable demographics assure all three regions of good growth rates as the majority of the population is young, productive and still in a spending mode. About 55 per cent of this region is in the productive age group of 15-49 years. By contrast, Japan and Europe are aging societies. Only the US, among the developed countries, is demographically dynamic.
India's growth rate of 6.2 per cent is just beginning to surge past Asean's (also at 6.2 per cent) and hopefully will get closer to China's (9.1 per cent) in the next few years. However, in terms of productive age groups, Asean has an edge over both India and China. The former has nearly 61 per cent in the productive age-group, while the latter two have only about 55 per cent. India, however, has an advantage in that in the coming decades, the percentage of its people in the productive age group is going to be relatively higher.
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