This aerial photo shows flooded streets and buildings in Thai Nguyen province on September 10, 2024, days after Super Typhoon Yagi struck northern Vietnam.
Tuyen Quang | AFP | Getty Images
Curtis S. Chin, a former U.S. Ambassador to the Asian Development Bank, is currently the managing director of the consulting firm RiverPeak Group. Jose B. Collazo is an analyst focusing on the Indo-Pacific region. Follow them on X @curtischin and @JoseBCollazo.
Like the year before, 2024 appears to offer little to celebrate for many across the wider Indo-Pacific region. Yet amid an uncertain economy and enduring geographic tensions, hope and joy can still be found.
Who will fare poorly and who will fare well in the Asia-Pacific region in 2024?
As the region looks forward to President Donald Trump’s return to the White House in 2025, we look back on what is likely to be a tumultuous year in the Lunar Year of the Snake.
Worst year yet: Asia’s climate toll
In a region that has made global headlines for natural disasters, the toll of “climate casualties” across Asia rises by thousands in 2024.
Twenty years ago, the devastating Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami on December 26, 2004 killed more than 200,000 people, and 2024 marked a year of rising casualties from typhoons, floods, heat waves and droughts.
For example, Super Typhoon Yagi, one of the strongest storms to hit Southeast Asia in years, left a trail of death and destruction in its wake in November. From the Philippines through southern China and Vietnam to Laos, Thailand and Myanmar, the storm killed hundreds and destroyed communities and livelihoods.
Floods caused by monsoon rains also strand millions of people and kill hundreds in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, India and Nepal every year, making this year the deadliest in recent memory. And if it wasn’t record-breaking rainfall, it was drought and scorching temperatures that led to months of severe water shortages.
The region’s climate toll has earned the dubious title of Asia’s worst year, as extreme weather events appear to be increasingly common, while their victims are often increasingly ignored and forgotten.
A bad year: Babies in East Asia
Where have all the babies gone? Across much of East Asia, aspiring grandparents and other newborn fans are facing another tough year in 2024. Taiwan and Hong Kong.
Fertility rates remain well below the levels required for population stability, if not growth. As countries grapple with shrinking workforces and aging populations, the long-term economic consequences are likely to be severe.
Record low fertility rates continue to be a major concern for all major economies, including South Korea, China and Japan, as well as Taiwan and Hong Kong.
Women in East Asia are almost childless. Changing gender roles, long working hours, high costs of housing, education and childcare are all cited as some of the factors behind this demographic trend.
South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that at the end of last year, South Korea also officially announced that it had entered a “super-aging” society defined by the United Nations, because the proportion of citizens aged 65 or above currently accounts for 20% of its total population.
Hybrid Year: Democracy and Governance in Asia
From India and Japan to South Korea and Indonesia, from Pakistan and Sri Lanka to Taiwan, elections dominate 2024. .
Bangladesh’s long-time leader and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina retained power earlier this year in an election boycotted by the opposition, but resigned and fled the country after weeks of student protests following the election.
Soldiers try to enter the National Assembly building in Seoul on December 4, 2024, after South Korean President Yoon Seok-yeol declared martial law.
Jung Yeon-je | AFP | Getty Images
Infamously, South Korean President Yoon Seok-yeol declared martial law eight months after his party’s crushing election defeat, only to see the National Assembly successfully move to force the lifting of martial law and impeach him. The president’s fate now lies before the Constitutional Court.
However, the election solidified Taiwan’s vibrant democracy, It forced Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi into power with an alliance, surprising Pakistan’s current prime minister and heralding a peaceful transfer of Indonesian presidential power to former general Prabowo Subianto. Asian democracies in 2024 will be characterized by diverse, hybrid democratic trajectories.
Have a great year: K-Pop
K is Korean. Whether you’re listening to K-pop music, watching Korean dramas, trying Sulwhasoo’s latest Korean beauty products, or trying Korean fried chicken or other Korean food, you’ve succumbed to the “Korean Wave”—the popular wave of cultural exports from South Korea. 2024 is proving to be a banner year for this expanding wave of business, which extends well beyond superstar music groups BTS and Blackpink.
Korean writer Han Kang won the 2024 Nobel Prize for Literature.
Geoffroy Van Der Hasselt | Geoffroy Van Der Hasselt Episodes | Getty Images
At last count, Netflix alone had more than 300 Korean movies and series, including “Squidward Game,” Season 2. Say hello to Korean literature after Korean author Han Kang became the first Korean and first Asian woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2024.
This tsunami of soft diplomacy has boosted South Korea’s global influence, which is also big business. The global economic benefits brought by “Korean Wave” to South Korea are Currently projected to reach $198 billion by 2030According to BusinessKorea, a white paper was released by TikTok and market research company Kantar.
Best of the Year: Moo Deng, Thailand’s viral sensation
To say that the baby female pygmy hippopotamus named Moo Deng, which means “springy pork” in Thai, has taken the world by storm in 2024 would be an understatement.
PATTAYA, THAILAND – NOVEMBER 26: Moo Deng is seen in her enclosure at Khao Kheow Open Zoo on November 26, 2024 in Chonburi Province, Thailand.
Matt Jelonek | Getty Images News | Getty Images
The “super viral” dwarf baby was born in Thailand’s Khao Kheow Zoo in July this year. Her memes, photos and videos have become popular around the world.
Fan accounts continue to surge on X, TikTok and Facebook. Even NBC’s long-running American comedy show Saturday Night Live has jumped on the Moo Deng craze. Asian American star Bowen Yang laments the dangers of overnight fame as a baby hippopotamus in a segment on the show’s “Weekend Update.”
Moo Deng famously correctly predicted the winner of the 2024 US presidential race by choosing a fruit and vegetable plate bearing Trump’s name over rival Kamala Harris Take it to the next level.
2024 may be the Year of the Dragon on the lunar calendar, but in the minds of Moo Deng fans in Asia and beyond, it’s also clearly the Year of the Hippopotamus. In order to bring a little hope and joy to this region and the world that need more joy, Muden was awarded the title of “Asia’s Best Year” in 2024.
Welcome to 2025, a year full of hope and joy.
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