Asia-Pacific will account for the fastest growth in retail sales globally for the next five years according to new data from PwC.

The professional services company predicts the rapid growth will drive the total retail market in the region to exceed US$10.3 trillion by 2018. That will dwarf the US market’s $5 trillion and Western Europe’s $3.3 trillion.

The report, compiled in partnership with the Economist Intelligence Unit, predicts Asia-Pacific retail sales to grow 4.6 per cent in 2015, and reach 4.9 per cent in 2018, even though China’s growth is coming off the boil.

Again, those figures dwarf more mature markets: Western Europe will grow just 0.9 per cent in 2018 and North America by 2.6 per cent.

China and India will predictably lead the boom, says the report, but a surprise third place is Vietnam, whose 94 million residents are experiencing a surge in disposable income. PwC and the EIU predict 8.7 per cent retail sales growth in China in 2015, easing to 7.9 per cent in 2018, while Vietnam is expected to grow by 8.4 per cent this year slowing to 6.5 per cent in 2018.

Other predictions for Asian markets in 2018 are:

India: 6.6 per cent.

The Philippines: 5.5 per cent.

Indonesia: 5.0 per cent.

Malaysia: 4.8 per cent.

Pakistan: 4.3 per cent.

Thailand: 4.3 per cent.

Singapore: 2.9 per cent.

South Korea: 2.9 per cent.

New Zealand: 2.5 per cent.

Australia: 2.2 per cent.

Hong Kong: 1.3 per cent.

Japan: 0.6 per cent.

The report expects Australian retail sales growth of 2.6 per cent in 2015.