For more information, please visit: http://ow.ly/4ne7To The Hinrich Foundation Sustainable Trade Index was created for the purpose of stimulating meaningful discussion of the full range of considerations that policy makers, business executives, and civil society leaders must take into account when managing and advancing international trade.

1. SUSTAINABLE
TRADEINDEX
THE
Sustainable trade is participating in the international
trading system in a manner that supports the
long-term domestic and global goals of economic growth,
environmental protection, and strengthening social capital.
COUNTRY RANKINGS
Asia is home to two of the three largest economies, two of the world’s most populous
nations, and has demonstrated the power of trade to raise people out of poverty. These
are the region’s overall rankings with the USA as an external benchmark.
Singapore owes
its number one
position to
targeted economic
policy and careful
stewardship of
human and natural
capital.
SINGAPORE
SOUTHKOREA
JAPAN
USA
HONGKONG
TAIWAN
MALAYSIA
THAILAND
BRUNEI
SRILANKA
VIETNAM
CHINA
PHILIPPINES
INDONESIA
INDIA
CAMBODIA
LAOS
BANGLADESH
PAKISTAN
MYANMAR
81.0
80.0
78.5
76.4
73.6
69.4
59.4
55.5
54.2
54.2
53.8
52.5
52.0
47.9
47.7
46.8
45.5
45.4
41.7
36.1
Asia’s two main
entrepots, Singapore and
Hong Kong, are first and
second on the economic
pillar
Malaysia is the
best performer from
emerging Asia due to low trade
barriers, strong technology
infrastructure and
diverse exports
THE THREE PILLARS OF SUSTAINABLE TRADE
Poor scores on water
and air pollution put
China and India in the bottom
quartile for environmentally
sustainable trade
ECONOMIC
Measures the economic
conditions that support
trade such as physical,
technological and
financial infrastructure.
SOCIAL
The countries scoring best
on the social pillar have
lower inequality, high levels
of educational attainment,
strong labour standards,
and are politically stable.
ENVIRONMENTAL
The countries scoring best
on the environmental pillar
avoid over-reliance on natural
resource exports, limit
pollution, and pursue high-
environmental standards.
The three pillars of our definition of Sustainable
Trade – economic, environmental, and social
– are taken from the 1987 landmark UN report
by the Brundtland Commission on sustainable
development, Our Common Future, and form the
basis on which the Index was constructed.
= OVERALL RANKING
OVER- AND UNDER-PERFORMERS
RELATIVE TO PER CAPITA GDP
China has grown its GDP
but scores poorly in labour,
environmental sustainability
and education
BANGLADESH
SRI LANKA
THAILAND
-6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 +1 +2 +3 +40
SINGAPORE
SOUTH KOREA
JAPANUSA
HONG KONG
TAIWAN
BRUNEI
VIETNAM
CHINA
MALAYSIA
PHILIPPINES
INDONESIA INDIA
CAMBODIA
LAOS
PAKISTAN MYANMAR
South Korea, Vietnam and Cambodia
maintain comparatively high
environmental standards and
diversified exports
Economies that trade in a way that enables them to withstand shocks,
and balance long-term resilience with short-term goals, score well.
• SIZE OF BALL REPRESENTS RELATIVE GDP PER CAPITA
• POSITION OF BALL REPRESENTS OVER- OR UNDER-PERFORMANCE IN THE RANKING RELATIVE TO GDP PER CAPITA
THE INDEX WORKBOOK AND WHITE PAPER ARE AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD AT HINRICHFOUNDATION.COM/TRADE-RESEARCH/SUSTAINABLE-TRADE-INDEX
100
75
50
25
ECONOMIC
SOCIALENVIRONMENTAL
USA
4
100
75
50
25
ECONOMIC
SOCIALENVIRONMENTAL
BRUNEI
9
100
75
50
25
ECONOMIC
SOCIALENVIRONMENTAL
PAKISTAN
19
100
75
50
25
ECONOMIC
SOCIALENVIRONMENTAL
MALAYSIA
7
100
75
50
25
ECONOMIC
SOCIALENVIRONMENTAL
SOUTH
KOREA
2
100
75
50
25
ECONOMIC
SOCIALENVIRONMENTAL
PHILIPPINES
13
100
75
50
25
ECONOMIC
SOCIALENVIRONMENTAL
SRI LANKA
10
100
75
50
25
ECONOMIC
SOCIALENVIRONMENTAL
LAOS
17
100
75
50
25
ECONOMIC
SOCIALENVIRONMENTAL
MYANMAR
20
100
75
50
25
ECONOMIC
SOCIALENVIRONMENTAL
INDONESIA
14
100
75
50
25
ECONOMIC
SOCIALENVIRONMENTAL
VIETNAM
11
100
75
50
25
ECONOMIC
SOCIALENVIRONMENTAL
SINGAPORE
1
100
75
50
25
ECONOMIC
SOCIALENVIRONMENTAL
BANGLADESH
18
100
75
50
25
ECONOMIC
SOCIALENVIRONMENTAL
THAILAND
8
100
75
50
25
ECONOMIC
SOCIALENVIRONMENTAL
HONG KONG
5
100
75
50
25
ECONOMIC
SOCIALENVIRONMENTAL
CHINA
12
100
75
50
25
ECONOMIC
SOCIALENVIRONMENTAL
INDIA
15
100
75
50
25
ECONOMIC
SOCIALENVIRONMENTAL
CAMBODIA
16
100
75
50
25
ECONOMIC
SOCIALENVIRONMENTAL
JAPAN
3
100
75
50
25
ECONOMIC
SOCIALENVIRONMENTAL
TAIWAN
6
1
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