China’s weaker-than-expected performance kicked off the gloom. Japan then got hit by natural disasters, while growth throughout Southeast Asia faltered as well as in South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
India’s economy also slowed, economists predict ahead of a Friday report.
The global picture is changing with the US economy now leading the growth story.
Euro-area expansion slowed last quarter, held back by a contraction in Germany, while emerging markets like Russia and Argentina are stumbling.
Asia’s troubles may be far from over with the risk of an escalation in the US-China trade war threatening exports, a main driver of growth.
A series of monetary tightening actions in countries like Indonesia and the Philippines are also raising borrowing costs, putting pressure on consumer spending.
“Asia is shifting down a gear into year-end.
“Higher borrowing costs and financial market volatility, for example, are bound to restrain credit growth and push up debt servicing costs,” said Frederic Neumann, co-head of Asian economics research at HSBC Holdings Plc in Hong Kong.
Exports are showing signs of cooling after holding up for much of the year.
There’s little room for officials across Asia to implement monetary and fiscal easing given the prospect of more Federal Reserve interest-rate hikes and the longer-term need to keep debt under control, said Neumann.