This 2018 yearbook issue of International Financial Statistics (IFS) is a standard source of statistics on all aspects of international and domestic finance. The IMF publishes calculated effective exchange rates data only for countries that have given their approval. The country, euro area, and world tables provide measures of effective exchange rates, compiled by the IMF’s Research Department, Statistics Department, and area departments. The real effective exchange rate index in line rec is derived from the nominal effective exchange rate index, adjusted for relative changes in consumer prices. Consumer price indices, often available monthly, are used as a measure of domestic costs and prices for these countries.

The Statistical Yearbook presents data for the 58 regional Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) member countries, as well as world, regional, sub-regional and economic aggregates for comparison. It offers current trends and emerging topics in the Asia-Pacific, grouped around the themes of people, the environment, the economy and connectivity. It provides the international and regional community with key indicators, objective analyses of the current trends and emerging issues, along with data and charts. In order to maximize the comparability, the Yearbook data is sourced exclusively from international agencies that adhere to the official global statistical standards.

This publication offers a synthesis of the major factors at play in the global food and agricultural landscape. Statistics are presented in four thematic chapters, covering the economic importance of agricultural activities, inputs, outputs and factors of production, their implications for food security and nutrition and their impacts on the environment. The Yearbook is meant to constitute a primary tool for policy makers, researchers and analysts, as well as the general public interested in the past, present and future path of food and agriculture.