Despite growing geopolitical tensions and the onslaught of U.S. tariffs, economic growth in the Asia-Pacific region is expected to hold steady in 2026. According to a Dec. 10 report released by the Mastercard Economics Institute (MEI), real GDP growth in the region is set to ease marginally to 3.1% in 2026, compared to 3.2% in 2025.
“The actual contributions to global growth come more from the Asia-Pacific region than they do from the Americas or Europe,” says David Mann, Mastercard’s chief APAC economist, in an interview with Fortune.
Mann credits plentiful investment, particularly in technology and infrastructure associated with the AI buildout, for Asia’s resilient growth. He adds that the APAC region is unique as three-quarters of its foreign direct investment comes from the rest of the region, rather than from non-Asian sources.
With the U.S. being an increasingly unreliable trade partner, Asian countries are looking to build supply chains with their neighbors. “Even more investment is going into other markets around the region, from China, to Japan and South Korea, to help expand supply chains and capacity in multiple markets for diversification,” says Mann.
Uneven growth in ASEAN
