Asian nations could see a further decline in working hours by 2030 as improvements in technology allow automation to advance, and productivity and efficiency to increase, DBS Bank Ltd said in a report last week.
The trend would allow people to enjoy higher incomes, while driving up demand for discretionary consumption and tourism, it said in a 52-page report.
“There is no doubt that Asia has embarked on an irreversible journey towards ever-shorter working hours... Over the last decade-and-a-half, it has recorded higher productivity and shorter working hours,” the Singaporean banking group said.
By 2030, Asia will move closer to a 35-hour workweek, a decline of between 2.5 to five hours a week, thanks to technological advances, DBS said.
Shorter and more flexible working arrangements would also lend a helping hand, it said.
Developing nations, such as China, Myanmar and India, have seen robust productivity growth of more than 4.5 percent for the past 30 years, the report said.
DBS expects working hours in China to decline by 2.5 hours — from 45.3 hours in 2016 to 42.8 hours in 2030 — due to rapidly improving productivity and people moving to middle-class incomes.
Highly developed economies in the region, such as Singapore, Hong Kong and South Korea, would slash their weekly work hours by five hours, 4.8 hours and 3.5 hours to 41.9 hours, 40.7 hours and 39.5 hours respectively by 2030, it said.
In contrast, developing countries, like Indonesia, might only see a decline of less than an hour, DBS said.
Despite the expected changes, the Asian workweek is still much longer than in the US and Europe, due mainly to deep-rooted cultural ethics, it said.
As Asia works smarter and earns more, tourism and discretionary consumption are likely to be the two sectors that will benefit the most, it said.
“We project that household spending in China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam will reach US$15 trillion in 2030, with China accounting for the lion’s share of US$9.1 trillion,” DBS said.
Tourism is to see a big boost and Asian tourists will be the key driver of tourism growth in Asia and elsewhere in the world, it said, adding that tourism spending in Asia would grow by 5.6 percent over the next decade.
Travel and tourism last year made up US$884 billion of Asia’s GDP, judging from economic activity generated by hotels, travel agents, airlines and other passenger transportation services, restaurants and leisure facilities, DBS said, citing the World Travel and Tourism Council.
The contribution might rise to US$1.61 trillion in 2028, or 3.8 percent of the region’s GDP, it said, adding that the number would total US$1,790 billion, or 4 percent of the economy in 2030, if the growth rate is sustained.
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