In 2019, the average inflation rate in Thailand amounted to about 0.71 percent compared to the previous year, when it was just recovering from a slump below the 0-percent-mark in 2015.

Political turmoil begets economic turmoil

In 2014, after a coup d’etat following months of political crisis, the Thai military took over the country, and the senate and government were dissolved. As a result, Thailand’s economy experienced a sudden downturn, GDP growth and inflation slumped, while unemployment, which is usually delayed in reflecting economic struggles, has been increasing ever since.

Services help stabilization

Apart from the struggles in recent years, Thailand’s economy as a whole is quite stable. Its main GDP generator is the services sector , which includes tourism and telecommunications, and which has shown a stable real GDP growth for the past few years. The new military government also wants to boost the economy further by focusing on high-tech industries and services, with the goal of making Thailand a high-income nation with an economic focus on innovation and growth.

Inflation rates in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) ranged from 31 percent inflation in Laos to 0.37 percent inflation in Brunei Darussalam. While countries like Vietnam are likely benefitting from more stable inflation than earlier seen, only a few countries are in the 2 to 6 percent range that many economists view as optimal for emerging economies. Effects of high inflation High inflation is generally detrimental to the economy. Prices tend to rise faster than wages, meaning that people and firms have less purchasing power. This in turn leads to slower growth in the gross domestic product (GDP). It also leads to a weaker currency. For countries with a positive trade balance this can be beneficial, because exports are relatively cheaper to foreign buyers. Through the same mechanism, net importers suffer from a weaker currency. Additionally, inflation makes a country’s national debt less expensive if the debt is denominated in the local currency. However, most of this debt is in U.S. dollars, so inflation makes the debt more difficult to service and repay. Risks of deflation With deflation, consumers and firms delay investments because they expect prices to be lower in the future. This slows consumption and investment, two major components of GDP growth. The most common example of this is Japan, where the GDP growth rate has been low for a long time due, in large part, to deflation. For this reason, countries like Brunei would rather see low and stable inflation than slight deflation.

Thailand’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew at a rate of 2.12 percent in 2019. The Thai economy

Thailand relies less on agriculture and more on employment in the service sector, which is a sign of a more advanced economy. This development is also apparent in its GDP per capita, which is one of the highest in Southeast Asia. One aspect of a developed economy is that it is more diverse, and thus less exposed to economic shocks. This statistic reflects that robustness in its optimistic view of Thai GDP growth.

Domestic factors

Thailand has posted an incredibly low unemployment rate for several years, which suggests that the workforce matches the demand for labor remarkably well. Equally important, the inflation rate tends to be low and stable, though sometimes too low. If Thailand wants to realize the positive projections in this statistic, the inflation rate of the baht should be between 2 and 3 percent, according to most economists.

The average inflation rate in Cambodia was forecast to increase between 2024 and 2029 by in total 2.3 percentage points. This overall increase does not happen continuously, notably not in 2027. The inflation is estimated to amount to three percent in 2029. Following the definitions provided by the International Monetary Fund, this indicator measures inflation based upon the year on year change in the average consumer price index. The latter expresses a country's average level of prices based on a typical basket of consumer goods and services. Depicted here is the year-on-year change in said index measure, expressed in percent.Find more key insights for the average inflation rate in countries like Indonesia, Thailand, and Timor-Leste.

The real interest rate in Thailand increased by 4.6 percentage points compared to the previous year. The year 2023 therefore marks a significant change in the real interest rate compared to the previous year. Real interest rate is the lending interest rate adjusted for inflation as measured by the GDP deflator.Find more statistics on other topics about Thailand with key insights such as number of automated teller machines (ATMs), domestic credit to the private sector as a share of GDP, and total number of listed domestic companies.

The average inflation rate in Brunei Darussalam was forecast to continuously increase between 2024 and 2029 by in total 0.5 percentage points. The inflation is estimated to amount to one percent in 2029. This indicator measures inflation based upon the year on year change in the average consumer price index. The latter expresses a country's average level of prices based on a typical basket of consumer goods and services. The values shown here refer to the year-on-year change in this index measure, expressed in percent.Find more key insights for the average inflation rate in countries like Philippines, Thailand, and Indonesia.

The FAO Sugar Price Index was measured at 111.2 points for January 2025. 2023 saw the highest prices since 2011. The combined impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and high inflation rates likely contributed to increasing prices in past years. Global sugar price In 2024, the global sugar price is forecast to decrease by more than ten percent, as compared to 2023. In general, the total sugar consumption worldwide has gradually increased during the last 12 years. In 2010/11, the global consumption of sugar amounted to about 156 million metric tons. By 2023/24, it had increased to about 177 million metric tons. However, the market value of the global sugar industry has fluctuated over the years. In 2012, the global sugar manufacturing industry was valued at over 113 billion U.S. dollars, compared to just under 78 billion U.S. dollars in 2022. Global sugar exports Total global sugar exports amount to more than 68 million metric tons per year. The leading sugar-exporting country worldwide is Brazil. The South American country is the world’s largest sugar producer and accounts for about half of the entire global sugar exports. Thailand and India are the countries with the second and third most sugar exports worldwide. Those two countries export about 10 and 4.6 million metric tons of sugar per year, respectively. The main importer of sugar worldwide is Indonesia. The Southeast Asian country imports approximately five million metric tons of sugar. The United States ranks in third place, with sugar imports of about 3.1 million metric tons of sugar annually.

At 8.07 U.S. dollars, Switzerland has the most expensive Big Macs in the world, according to the July 2024 Big Mac index. Concurrently, the cost of a Big Mac was 5.69 dollars in the U.S., and 6.06 U.S. dollars in the Euro area. What is the Big Mac index? The Big Mac index, published by The Economist, is a novel way of measuring whether the market exchange rates for different countries’ currencies are overvalued or undervalued. It does this by measuring each currency against a common standard – the Big Mac hamburger sold by McDonald’s restaurants all over the world. Twice a year the Economist converts the average national price of a Big Mac into U.S. dollars using the exchange rate at that point in time. As a Big Mac is a completely standardized product across the world, the argument goes that it should have the same relative cost in every country. Differences in the cost of a Big Mac expressed as U.S. dollars therefore reflect differences in the purchasing power of each currency. Is the Big Mac index a good measure of purchasing power parity? Purchasing power parity (PPP) is the idea that items should cost the same in different countries, based on the exchange rate at that time. This relationship does not hold in practice. Factors like tax rates, wage regulations, whether components need to be imported, and the level of market competition all contribute to price variations between countries. The Big Mac index does measure this basic point – that one U.S. dollar can buy more in some countries than others. There are more accurate ways to measure differences in PPP though, which convert a larger range of products into their dollar price. Adjusting for PPP can have a massive effect on how we understand a country’s economy. The country with the largest GDP adjusted for PPP is China, but when looking at the unadjusted GDP of different countries, the U.S. has the largest economy.