This aerial photo shows flooded streets and buildings in Thai Nguyen on September 10, 2024, a few days after Super Typhoon Yagi hit northern Vietnam.
Xuan Quang | Afp | Getty Images
Curtis S. Chin, a former U.S. ambassador to the Asian Development Bank, is managing director of the consulting firm RiverPeak Group. Jose B. Collazo is an analyst focused on the Indo-Pacific region. Follow them on X below @CurtisSCin And @JoseBCollazo.
Like the year before, 2024 seemingly offered little cause for celebration for many across the vast Indo-Pacific region. However, despite uncertain economic conditions and ongoing geographical tensions, there was still hope and joy.
Who was doing poorly and who was doing well in Asia Pacific in 2024?
As the region looks ahead to President Donald Trump’s return to the White House in 2025 and a potentially tumultuous Lunar Year of the Snake, we take a look at the year before.
Worst year: Asia’s climate victims
In a region known for natural disasters that make global headlines, 2024 saw thousands of “climate casualties” across Asia..
Unlike 20 years ago, when the devastating Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami on December 26, 2004 killed more than 200,000 people, 2024 has been a year of rising death tolls 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 devastation in November. From the Philippines to southern China and Vietnam to Laos, Thailand and Myanmar, the storm killed hundreds of people and devastated communities and livelihoods.
Flooding from annual monsoon rains also left millions stranded and hundreds dead in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, India and Nepal, making this year one of the deadliest in recent memory. And if it wasn’t record-breaking rainfall, it was a drought that brought searing temperatures and led to months of severe water shortages.
Because extreme weather events seem to be the norm and their victims all too often go unnoticed and forgotten, the region’s climate damage earns the dubious distinction of “Worst Year in Asia.”
Bad Year: East Asia’s Babies
Where have all the babies gone? Across most of East Asia, would-be grandparents and other newborn fans faced another difficult year in 2024. Record-low birth rates continued to be a major problem in all major economies, including South Korea, China and Japan, as well as Taiwan and Hong Kong.
Birth rates remained well below the level required for a stable, if not growing, population. The long-term economic consequences could well be significant as countries grapple with shrinking workforces and aging populations.
Record-low birth rates continued to be a major problem in all major economies, including South Korea, China and Japan, as well as Taiwan and Hong Kong.
Women across East Asia have few to no children. Changing gender roles, long working hours and high costs for housing, education and child care are cited as factors for this demographic trend.
At year’s end, South Korea was also officially declared an “aging” society, a concept defined by the United Nations as the proportion of citizens aged 65 or older now accounts for 20% of the population, according to the Korean Ministry of Interior and Security .
Mixed Year: Democracy and Rule in Asia
From India and Japan to South Korea and Indonesia to Pakistan and Sri Lanka to Taiwan, the elections dominated the year 2024. At the end of the year, however, it was a decidedly mixed year not only for the incumbent politicians, but also for democracy itself.
The year began with Bangladesh’s longtime leader and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina retaining power in an election boycotted by the opposition, only to resign and leave the country after weeks of student protests following the election.
Soldiers try to enter the National Assembly building in Seoul on Dec. 4, 2024, after South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law.
Jung Yeon-je | Afp | Getty Images
Infamously, the year ends with South Korean President Yoon Suk-Yeol declaring martial law eight months after his party’s major defeat in the general election, only to see the National Assembly successfully both force the lifting of martial law and impeach him. The president’s fate now rests with the Constitutional Court.
But the elections cemented a vibrant democracy in Taiwan, forced India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi to govern with a coalition, surprising the Pakistani incumbent and announcing the peaceful transition of presidential power in Indonesia to former general Prabowo Subianto. The year 2024 was marked by diverse, mixed democratic developments in Asian democracies.
Good year: The Korean wave
K stands for Korean. Whether you’re listening to K-pop music, streaming a K-drama, checking out Sulwhasoo’s latest K-beauty product, or buying Korean fried chicken or other K-food, you’re extremely addicted to “Hallyu” – the South – Korea’s wave popular cultural exports. 2024 has been a good year for this growing wave of business, which has expanded far beyond superstar music groups BTS and Blackpink.
South Korean author Han Kang has won the 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature.
Geoffroy Van Der Hasselt | Episode | Getty Images
According to a recent count, there are more than 300 Korean films and series available on Netflix alone, including “Squid Game,” Season 2. “Queen of Tears,” a romantic drama starring Kim Soo-hyun and Kim Ji-won, was a global sensation in 2024, logging 690 million viewing hours on Netflix. And say hello to K-literature after Korean author Han Kang became the first Korean and first Asian to win the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2024.
This tsunami of soft diplomacy that has strengthened South Korea’s global presence is also big business. The global economic benefit of “Hallyu” for Korea is By 2030 it should now be 198 billion US dollarsaccording to a BusinessKorea report on a white paper published by TikTok and market research firm Kantar.
Best year: Moo Deng, Thailand’s viral sensation
To say that the female pygmy hippopotamus named Moo Deng – Thai for “hopping pork” – took 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, Thailand.
Matt Jelonek | Getty Images News | Getty Images
The “hyperviral” baby pygmy, born in July at Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Thailand, has seen his memes, photos and videos spread worldwide.
Fan accounts on X, TikTok and Facebook continue to grow. And even NBC’s long-running US comedy show “Saturday Night Live” got in on the Moo Deng mania. Asian American star Bowen Yang portrayed the baby hippo in the show’s “Weekend Update” segment and lamented the dangers of instant fame.
Adding to her fame, Moo Deng correctly predicted the winner of the 2024 US presidential election by choosing the fruit and vegetable plate with Trump’s name over that of rival Kamala Harris.
2024 may have been the Year of the Dragon in the lunar calendar, but in the hearts and minds of Moo Deng fans in Asia and beyond, it was clearly also the Year of the Hippo. For bringing a little hope and joy to a region and world that could use a lot more good cheer, the Best Year in Asia award for 2024 goes to Moo Deng.
Here’s to a hopeful and joyful 2025.
