Figure 1.1. Estimates of informal output (% of official GDP), 2000 and 2020
to 39.8 percent; Russia from 46.1 percent to 43.1 percent; Chinese Taipei from 20.4 percent to disparities in informality across APEC members, particularly between industrialised and developing economies, reflecting the different challenges in their regulatory systems, economic It should be noted that model-based estimates of the informal economy, such as those found in Indicators, Multiple Causes (MIMIC), are based on assumed relationships and derived elasticities between the observed formal economy and the unobserved informal economy. The estimates are based on the best available data and economic relationships at the time, but the models may not continue providing reliable estimates over the medium- to long-term. This is because relationships between formal and informal economic activities may change over time, China; and Chinese Taipei are estimated by APEC Policy Support Unit (PSU) staff using the methodology in Source: World Bank Informal Economy Database (accessed on 21 April 2025) and APEC PSU (2024a). From the employment perspective, the ILO Statistics on the Informal Economy reports that the proportion of informal employment ranges between 19.3 percent to 81.2 percent of total employment across nine APEC economies with data available from recent years, with Indonesia at the top of the range, followed by Peru (72.1 percent); Viet Nam (67.7 percent);