Industrialization has been the most urgent preoccupation in East Asia in the post-war period. The perspectives of its success must now be considered.

THE SCALE OF WORLD PROGRESS

The course of East Asian industrial development must be compared with that of the world's other Regions. Taking the indices for all industrial production (mining, manufacturing. electricity and gas) the first notable feature lies in the differing effects of the war. The overall industrial output doubled between 1938 and 1948 in North America (Table 6.1). In Latin America it increased by more than one-third. In German-occupied Europe it fell (by 25 per cent in the present EEC area) but this was offset in non-occupied Europe. the index for all Europe remaining the same in 1948 as in 1938. In East and South East Asia as a whole the war reduced industrial production in a slightly larger proportion than in Axis Europe - by 27 per cent. This again was due mainly to the destruction and attrition in its Axis heartland. Japan. If Japan is excluded the rest of the region increased its industrial production by over 13 per cent.