NESDC releases report on Thailand’s economic performance
Kingdom posts improved second-quarter GDP growth at 2.3%
Danucha Pichayanan, secretary general of the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC), on Monday released a report on Thailand's economic condition for the second quarter of 2024 and the economic outlook for the year.
The report indicated that Thailand's gross domestic product grew by 2.3% in the second quarter, up from 1.5% in the first quarter.
This improvement is attributed to better economic indicators, including a 4.0% increase in private consumption, 0.3% growth in government consumption, 1.9% growth in exports of goods, and 19.8% growth in exports of services.
The sectors that expanded include manufacturing (0.2%), accommodation and food services (7.8%), transportation (8.1%), trade (3%), and finance (1.9%).
Conversely, certain areas showed a decline: Total investment remained negative at -6.2%, with private investment down by 6.8% and public investment down by 4.3%. The agriculture sector saw a decrease of 1.1%, and construction contracted by 5.5%.
Regarding economic stability, the unemployment rate stood at 1.07%, higher than 1.01% in the previous quarter and 1.06% in the same quarter last year. The average headline inflation rate was 0.7%, and the average core inflation rate was 0.4%.
The current-account surplus was US$2.6 billion (93.7 billion baht), with international reserves at $224.3 billion as of the end of June 2024. Public debt stood at 11.54 trillion baht, or 63.5% of GDP.
For the full year 2024, the NESDC forecasts GDP growth to range between 2.3% and 2.8%, with a central estimate of 2.5%. This revised forecast is narrower than the previous range of 2-3% and is supported by:
Continued recovery in the tourism sector
Robust domestic consumption growth
Increased momentum from government spending and investment
Gradual expansion in exports as global trade recovers
It is anticipated that private consumption will grow by 4.5%, while private investment will increase by 0.3%. The value of merchandise exports in US dollars is expected to rise by 2.0%. Inflation is projected to be between 0.4% and 0.9%, and the current-account surplus is expected to be 2.3% of GDP.
