Thailand

Economy of Thailand

Facts and Figures of Thai Economy

GDP (official exchange rate) is above $ 300 billion( 2012 est.) GDP growth rate is about 0.1% . GDP- composition by sector: Agriculture-13.3% Industry- 34% Services- 52.7% Unemployment rate is 0.7%(2011 est.) Population below poverty line is 8.1% Inflation rate is 3.8%(2011 est.) Stock of Foreign investment is $119.5 billion( approx.) Reserves of Foreign exchange and Gold is $ 175.1 billion(approx.)

Economy of Thailand
Two major factors that greatly influence the overall Thai Economy :-- Agriculture
Manufacturing industry

Agricultural sector
Agricultural products in Thailand can be classified into four types: crops, forestry, Fishery(the main fishery exports are shrimps and squid); and livestock( chicken,eggs,pork)

Agriculture
Thailand is the no1 rice exporter in the world rice
market. Other major agricultural products includes grain, rubber, sugarcane, tapioca, soyabeans, palm oil, pineapple, maize Between 1992 and 2001, exports of logs and sawn timber increased from 50,000 cubic meters to 2 million cubic meters per year.

Manufacturing sector
The another most important sector is manufacturing industry, which accounted for 34.5 % of GDP in 2011. Two automakers active in Thailand are Toyota and Ford. Thailand's electronics industry faces competition from Malaysia and Singapore, while its textile industry faces competition from China and Vietnam.

Other factors that affects the Thai economy in a positive way

Energy
Electricity consumption rose by 4.7 percent in 2011 to 133 billion kilowatt-hours. As per records of the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand, power consumption by residential consumers has been increasing because of more favorable rates given to residential customers over the industry and business sectors. Services(ranging from tourism to banking & finance) about 44.7 % of GDP, In 2007 some 14 million tourists visited Thailand. Free trade policy/Free Trade Agreements(FTA)

 Natural resources Mineral resources that are mass-produced and used in the country include fluorite, gypsum, lead, lignite, tantalum, and tungsten Thailand is the world's second largest exporter of gypsum after Canada. In 2003 Thailand produced more than 40 types of minerals with an annual value of about US$740 million