We’re overdue for an update of Asia’s estimated infrastructure investment needs. ADB last estimated infrastructure investment needs for Asia and the Pacific in 2009.

In a joint study with the ADB Institute, we identified the need for about $8 trillion worth of investment from 2010 to 2020, roughly $750 billion a year. We’re now more than halfway through that timeline.

Those estimates now speak more about the past than the future.

Eight years to revisit these estimates is a long time, but the past eight years in particular have been tumultuous. Three big changes make it valuable to take a fresh look at Asia’s infrastructure investment needs.

In 2009, the world was still in the midst of the global financial crisis, and there was much uncertainty. In 2017, the picture is clearer: growth in many advanced economies is lackluster, particularly in Europe and Japan; some large emerging markets like Brazil and Russia are struggling, in part .