The Thai government announced on the 21st that the country’s GDP for 2021 grew by 1.6% year-on-year.
According to data from the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC), Thailand’s economy showed signs of recovery in the fourth quarter of 2021, after a contraction in the third quarter, as the country eased COVID-19 restrictions and reopened to international tourists. The GDP growth rate for Q4 2021 was 1.9% compared to the same period last year, with nearly all economic indicators showing positive trends, surpassing market expectations.
As Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy, Thailand’s GDP shrank by 6.2% in 2020 due to the impact of the pandemic.
NESDC projects that Thailand’s GDP will grow between 3.5% and 4.5% in 2022, with exports expected to grow by 4.9%, imports by 5.9%, and private consumption by 4.5%. The overall inflation rate for the year is anticipated to be between 1.5% and 2.5%.
In January 2022, Thailand’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by 3.23%, higher than the Bank of Thailand’s forecast, raising concerns about the country’s economic recovery this year. Earlier this month, the Bank of Thailand kept its benchmark interest rate at a historically low level for the 14th consecutive time and indicated that the overall inflation rate this year may exceed the initial forecast of a 1.7% increase.
