The crisis that struck in Asia in mid-1997 did not prevent an appreciable increase in consumption, investment and GDP in the area for the year as a whole; the exception was Thailand, where strains in the external accounts had already emerged at the end of 1996.
Growth in Latin America continued at a very rapid pace in 1997: 8.6% in Argentina and 7% in Mexico. In Brazil the loss of competitiveness and subsequently the tensions in the financial and foreign exchange markets slowed down growth. In 1997 world exports recorded a particularly large increase of 9.9%, compared with 7% in the previous year.