Thai Economic Performance - Thailand

Thai Economic Performance in 2023 and Outlook for 2024

The National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC) reported the Thai Economy in Q4 2023 expanded by 1.7% y-o-y, accelerating from a growth of 1.4%  in Q3 2023.

For the whole year 2023, the economy grew by 1.9%, decelerating from 2.5% in 2022. The growth was driven mainly by private consumption and the continual recovery of the tourism sector, resulting in an expansion accommodation and food service activities, wholesale and retail trade, transport and storage services sector. Nevertheless, the manufacturing sector and construction declined in line with the contraction of merchandise exports and public investment. 

The Thai Economy in 2024 is expected to expand at a quicker pace than in 2023, in the range of 2.2-3.2%, supported by the favorable growths of private consumption and private investment, a stronger recovery of tourism sector, and the return to an expansion of export of goods in tandem with the global economic recovery. Risk factors include high levels of household and corporate debts, climate change impacts on agricultural production, delays in the government budget disbursement, and volatile economic and financial situations.

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The Netherlands-Thailand Trade and Investment

Trade in goods
Thailand is the 2nd largest destination of Dutch merchandise exports to ASEAN (after Singapore). Thailand has a trade surplus over the Netherlands. In 2023, the value of merchandise trade between the Netherlands and Thailand was around 5.8 billion euros, declining 6.0% from 2022. This was due to a drop of 15.7% in the Dutch imports from Thailand, to 3.7 billion euros in 2023 from 4.5 billion euros in 2022. On the other hand, the Dutch exports to Thailand increased significantly by 19.8%, to 2.0 billion euros in 2023 from 1.7 billion euros in 2022.


Image: ©CBS The Netherlands’ trade with ASEAN in 2023 Source: CBS, provisional figures

Thailand’s main import items from the Netherlands are industrial goods. In 2023, the top five import items were electronic integrated circuits; machinery and parts; chemicals; medicinal and pharmaceutical products; and electrical machinery and parts. Principal agricultural imports from the Netherlands are fruits, vegetables and their preparation, milk and dairy products, and other food.  
Similarly, Thailand’s top export items to the Netherlands are concentrated on industrial products. These included computers and parts, electrical transformers, electronic integrated circuits, electrical equipment and parts, as well as printers and telephone sets. For agricultural products, key exports in 2023 were rubber products and prepared poultry.

Trade in services

Bilateral trade in services between the Netherlands and Thailand for the three quarters of 2023 was 822 million euros, increasing 21.4% from 677 million euros recorded in the same period of 2022.
Unlike trade in goods, the Netherlands has a trade surplus over Thailand regarding services trade. For the first three quarters of 2023, the Netherlands exported 529 million euros of services to Thailand, increasing 19.4% from the same period of 2022. Main Dutch exports to Thailand were technical, trade-related and other business services; professional and management consulting services; transport services; and charges for the use of intellectual property.
On the other hand, the Netherlands imported 293 million euros of services from Thailand in the first three quarters of 2023, expanding 25.2% from the same period of 2022. Main imported services were (personal) travel services, transport services, and professional and management consulting services.

Investment

According to the Bank of Thailand’s statistics, the Netherlands is the biggest EU source of foreign direct investment in Thailand, and no. 5 globally following Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong and the US. As at the end of the third quarter of 2023, cumulative direct investment from the Netherlands to Thailand were 18.7 billion USD, accounting for 6.4% of total foreign direct investment in Thailand and 54.0% from the EU).

The Netherlands is also the largest EU destination for Thai Direct Investment (TDI) overseas and no. 3 globally, after Hong Kong and Singapore. As at the end of the third quarter of 2023, accumulated TDI in the Netherlands was 23.5 billion USD, representing 12.0% of total TDI abroad and 78.9% to the EU.