Bangkok, August 19, 2024, The Europe Today: Thailand’s economy showed robust growth in the second quarter of 2024, driven by increased consumption, tourism, and exports, according to official data released on Monday. The National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC) reported that Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy expanded by 2.3% year-on-year in the April-June period, surpassing analysts’ expectations of 2.1% growth, as forecasted in a Reuters poll.
This growth marks an improvement from the upwardly revised 1.6% GDP increase in the first quarter of 2024. On a quarterly basis, however, GDP grew by a seasonally adjusted 0.8% in the second quarter, slightly below the upwardly revised 1.2% expansion recorded in the previous quarter and the 0.9% growth anticipated by analysts.
The NESDC attributed the quarterly growth to continued private consumption. However, it noted that both public and private investments experienced contractions during this period.
Given the second-quarter performance, the NESDC has adjusted its full-year GDP growth forecast to a range of 2.3% to 2.8%, narrowing from the previous projection of 2.0% to 3.0%. In comparison, Thailand’s economy grew by 1.9% in 2023.
Despite this positive momentum, Thailand’s economic growth continues to lag behind its regional peers, hampered by challenges such as high household debt, elevated borrowing costs, and sluggish export growth amid a slowdown in China, the country’s top trading partner. The NESDC has maintained its export growth forecast at 2% for the year.
The updated forecast underscores the mixed economic signals, with strong consumer activity and tourism growth being offset by structural issues that continue to weigh on the overall economic outlook.
