A tiger economy is the economy of a country which undergoes rapid economic growth, usually accompanied by an increase in the standard of living. The term was originally used for the Four Asian Tigers (South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore) as tigers are important in Asian symbolism, which also inspired the Tiger Cub Economies (Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines). The Asian Tigers also inspired other economies later on; the Anatolian Tigers (certain cities in Turkey) in the 1980s, the Gulf Tiger (Dubai) in the 1990s, the Celtic Tiger (Republic of Ireland) in 1995-2000, the "Caucasian Tiger" (Armenia), the Baltic tigers (Baltic states) in 2000-2007, and the Tatra Tiger (Slovakia) in 2002-2007.Israel's rapid economic growth in the 1990s, and again in the 2000s and 2010s following a brief recession, earned it a reputation as a tiger economy, and the term "Hebrew tiger" was dubbed in one newspaper.
In Latin America, the fast-growing & emerging economies, oriented to free trade & free market development are called the Pacific Pumas of which consist of Mexico, Chile, Peru & Colombia.