Thailand jumps 5 spots to 12th in 2024 Sustainable Trade Index
Rankings determined by averaging each economy’s performance in three underlying pillars of sustainability
Thailand has jumped five spots from last year to 12th globally in the 2024 edition of the Sustainable Trade Index (STI), according to a report published by the Hinrich Foundation on Tuesday, October 22.
The Singapore-based foundation says it developed the STI along with the IMD World Competitiveness Centre to be an annual ranking of 30 select global economies. The 2024 rankings are determined by averaging each economy’s performance in three underlying pillars of sustainability: economic, societal, and environmental.
Altogether, the three pillars are supported by 72 individual indicators. The Universal Health Coverage indicator was newly added to the STI in 2024, the report said.
Ranking first in 2024 STI is New Zealand, scoring 100 points across three pillars, maintaining its top position for another year.
In second place is the United Kingdom (97.7 points, position unchanged), followed by Australia (87.4 points, up two positions), Singapore (85.7 points, down one position), and Japan (81.5 points, up three positions).
Thailand is in 12th place, up five positions from the previous year, earning a total of 55.4 points. The kingdom ranked 12th globally in economic and societal pillars, and 19th globally in the environmental pillar.
The Hinrich Foundation said the purpose of the STI is to stimulate meaningful discussions about the linkages among global trade, sustainability, and resilience, serving as a practical tool for governments, policymakers, and researchers.
It explained that the economic pillar of the STI measures an economy’s ability to ensure and promote economic growth through international trade, including factors like government debt-to-GDP and tariff barriers.
The societal pillar measures the development of human capital within an economy, including such factors as life expectancy and universal health coverage.
Last, the environmental pillar measures an economy’s commitment to mitigating its environmental impact and managing its natural resources, including such factors as carbon-dioxide emissions per capita and deforestation.
