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EPZ Employment Statistics

An analysis of the the data below reveals that Asia and Central America are the front runners in employment generation. Leaving China aside, Asia has some 6 million vs. just over 2 million in Central America (but it should be noted that 2 million work in bonded warehouses in Bangladesh throughout the country under EPZ-like conditions without being in a zone). Central America and Mexico in particular have suffered large employment losses over the past year. Our tabulations put Mauritius and Madagascar in the India Ocean, but some place them in Africa. By and large, the EPZs in the Transition Economies of Central and Eastern Europe will not survive in their present form as most are EU candidates. In addition, US zones in North America are more warehousing facilities for transshipment, and not for manufacturing. The large number of zones in the Caribbean - although important for the local economies - result in relatively little employment because of the small size of the islands. But the Caribbean employment could be added to that of Central America. Just under a million work in the EPZs of Africa. On the whole, according to the figures below, EPZs have not really taken off in South America

Export processing zones
Geographical Area	Employment	Number of zones
Asia - of which China - of which BGMEA factories in Bangladesh	36,824,231 (30,000,000) (2,000,000)	749
Central America & Mexico	2,241,821	3300
Middle East	691,397	37
North Africa	440, 515	23
Sub-Saharan Africa	431,348	64
North America	330,000	713
South America	311,143	39
Transition Economies	245,619	90
Caribbean	226,130	87
Indian Ocean	127,509	3
Europe	50,830	55
Pacific	13,590	14
Total	41,934,133	5,174

= approximately 100,000

or = approximately 1,000,000