Thailand Economy - 2004

Economy - overview:
Thailand has a free-enterprise economy and welcomes foreign investment. Exports feature textiles and footwear, fishery products, rice, rubber, jewelry, automobiles, computers and electrical appliances. Thailand has recovered from the 1997-98 Asian Financial Crisis and was one of East Asia's best performers in 2002. Increased consumption and investment spending and strong export growth pushed GDP growth up to 6.3% in 2003 despite a sluggish global economy. The highly popular government has pushed an expansionist policy, including major support of village economic development.

GDP:
purchasing power parity - $475.7 billion (2003 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
6.3% (2003 est.)

GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $7,400 (2003 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 9%
industry: 42%
services: 49% (2002)

Population below poverty line:
10.4% (2002 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 2.8%
highest 10%: 32.4% (1998)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:
41.4 (1998)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
1.8% (2003 est.)

Labor force:
33.4 million (2001 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture 49%, industry 14%, services 37% (2000 est.)

Unemployment rate:
2.2% (2003 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $21 billion
expenditures: $22 billion, including capital expenditures of $5 billion (2000 est.)

Industries:
tourism, textiles and garments, agricultural processing, beverages, tobacco, cement, light manufacturing such as jewelry, electric appliances and components, computers and parts, integrated circuits, furniture, plastics, world's second-largest tungsten producer, and third-largest tin producer

Industrial production growth rate:
3% (2000 est.)

Electricity - production:
97.6 billion kWh (2001)

Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 91.3%
hydro: 6.4%
other: 2.4% (2001)
nuclear: 0%

Electricity - consumption:
90.91 billion kWh (2001)

Electricity - exports:
200 million kWh (2001)

Electricity - imports:
350 million kWh (2001)

Oil - production:
173,800 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - consumption:
785,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - exports:
NA

Oil - imports:
NA

Oil - proved reserves:
600 million bbl (1 January 2003)

Natural gas - production:
18.73 billion cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - consumption:
23.93 billion cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - exports:
0 cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - imports:
5.2 billion cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - proved reserves:
368.2 billion cu m (1 January 2003)

Agriculture - products:
rice, cassava (tapioca), rubber, corn, sugarcane, coconuts, soybeans

Exports:
$75.99 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.)

Exports - commodities:
computers, office machine parts, transistors, rubber, vehicles (cars and trucks), plastic, seafood (2002)

Exports - partners:
US 19.6%, Japan 14.5%, Singapore 8.1%, Hong Kong 5.4%, China 5.2%, Malaysia 4.1% (2002)

Imports:
$65.3 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.)

Imports - commodities:
capital goods, intermediate goods and raw materials, consumer goods, fuels (2000)

Imports - partners:
Japan 23%, US 9.6%, China 7.6%, Malaysia 5.6%, Singapore 4.5%, Taiwan 4.4% (2002)

Debt - external:
$62.5 billion (2002 est.)

Economic aid - recipient:
$131.5 million (1998 est.)

Currency:
baht (THB)

Currency code:
THB

Exchange rates:
baht per US dollar - 41.48 (2003), 42.96 (2002), 44.43 (2001), 40.11 (2000), 37.81 (1999)