🔎 Why have some Asian economies seen an improvement in their 2026 GDP growth outlook since the Iran war broke out, while other Asian economies have seen it worsen? It's a tale of energy imports and semiconductor exports. 🔻Generally, countries which import a lot of oil and LNG and which depend on private consumption to fuel GDP growth have seen the sharpest downgrades. The Philippines - which sourced 95% of its oil imports from the Middle East vs Asia's 65% average before the war - is the most extreme case. Other countries seeing cuts to their 2026 GDP growth outlook include Australia, India, Pakistan and Thailand. 💻 In contrast, countries that are supplying the semiconductors needed to fuel the U.S.' surging AI investment - Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, and most notably, Taiwan - have seen the outlook for their 2026 GDP growth strengthen in recent months. 🐼 China, meanwhile, has been able to protect itself from the Iran energy shock by turning to its huge reserves of coal, and is also benefiting from the AI boom as the government supports its indigenous chip producers. See how the outlook is shifting for your markets on FocusAnalytics. Link available in the comments. #AsiaPacific #GlobalEconomy #GDP #EconomicOutlook #EnergyMarkets #Semiconductors #ArtificialIntelligence #Geopolitics #TradeEconomics