This bachelor thesis in economics examines the Asian financial crisis, the impact on the countries in the region and how well they recovered financially. The countries that are taken into consideration are Japan, Indonesia, South Korea, Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore.  The variables used to explain the implications of the crisis are GDP, trade openness, unemployment and current account.

Descriptive statistics show that the most closed economy that was affected by a current account reversal was also the hardest hit in terms of GDP.  The statistics also show that all the countries under observation have recovered to their situation prior to the crisis in terms of GDP, but not in terms of the level of unemployment.

Two regressions that were performed showed the relation between trade openness and the effect of GDP after the crisis, and the relation of trade openness to growth after the crisis. The regressions show that the more closed an economy is the larger the effect of a crisis. At the same time these countries had the highest growth rates after the crisis and were also among the first to recover. Theoretical reasons for these results are given.