29 Mega Economic Regions of the World

Visualizing the Megaregions driving the current Global Economy

The Global economy is on the brink of a slowdown. Central banks are positioning themselves to provide extra stimulus to prop up the global economy. There are certain regions of the World which account for the giant share of the total global economic output. With that in mind, we look at the infographic (below) which is based on the data compiled by the by CityLab researchers.

The criterion for defining these mega economic regions was a combined population of 5 million or higher, generating an economic output (GDP) of over $300 billion, on a PPP basis which was calculated from Oxford Economics via Brookings’ Global Metro Monitor 2018. While the areas of continuous light in the visualization came from National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The term ‘megalopolis’ was coined by economic geographer Jean Gottmann in 1961 describing the emerging economic hub in the Northeast United States, that stretched from Boston to Washington, D.C. Ever since then, the term was applied to various regions in the World. Innovation & availability of better data now makes it easier to identify these economic regions. One such ingredient is the night-light data from satellites gathered from Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite…