ECONOMIC FORECASTS PROJECT MODEST GROWTH
Northeast Asia, which includes Japan, North and South Korea, and Taiwan, accounts for 10 percent of world gross domestic product (GDP). Although the region’s GDP is growing more slowly than the world average, it is expected to maintain a sustaining rate of 1.3 percent over the next 20 years. It also is expected to help drive passenger traffic growth of 2.6 percent and cargo traffic growth of 4.6 percent through 2034. This growth will result in a need for 1,450 new airplanes, valued at $310 billion. Approximately two-thirds of new airplanes will replace existing airplanes, and the remaining one-third will respond to airline growth in the region.