Thai GDP exceeds expectations with 1.9% rise in 2021 Q4
Thailand’s economy performed better than expected in the fourth quarter of 2021, expanding 1.9 per cent year on year, according to official figures on Monday.
Reuters had forecast a 1.4 per cent expansion from October to December.
Meanwhile gross domestic product (GDP) for the whole year rose 1.6 per cent, the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC) reported.
Fourth-quarter exports expanded 16.6 per cent for products and 30.5 per cent for services, but overall investment contracted by 0.2 per cent year on year.
“The 2021 economic growth was higher than our forecast of 1.2 per cent,” said NESDC secretary-general Danucha Pichayanan. For this year, the NESDC forecasts 3.5 to 4.5 per cent expansion of GDP driven by rising domestic demand, exports and the recovery of tourism after Covid-19 restrictions are lifted. However, Danucha warned that economic recovery could be slowed by risk factors such as a surge in domestic virus infections or a new variant in the future that could trigger travel restrictions.
Other key figures for Thailand’s economy in 2021 are as follows:
– Product exports expanded 18.8 per cent
– Private consumption expanded 0.3 per cent
– Overall investment expanded 3.4 per cent
– Agricultural, forestry and fishery sectors expanded 1.4 per cent
– Industrial sector expanded 4.9 per cent
– Retail and wholesale sectors expanded 1.7 per cent
– Hotel and food service sectors contracted 14.4 per cent
– Transport sector contracted 2.9 per cent
NESDC also forecast that US dollar exports in 2022 will expand by 4.9 per cent, private consumption by 4.5 per cent, private investment by 3.8 per cent, and public investment by 4.6 per cent. Inflation of 2022 is predicted at 1.5-2.5 per cent, with a current account surplus of 1.5 per cent of GDP.
