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Thailand statistics offers insights, for government officials, companies, scholars and everyday people. Covering aspects like growth population characteristics, tourism numbers and population trends. Thailand’s statistical records give an overview of the nation’s advancements and obstacles in different fields.
The population of Thailand is 71.86 million people based on 2024 UN figures. This places Thailand 20th globally in terms of population size, between Germany (19th) and the UK (21st). According to CIA figures, 97.5% of this population is ethnically Thai, 1.3% are Burmese, and the rest are a mix of other nationalities.
52% of the total population reside in urban areas with the capital of Bangkok hosting 11.07 million people in 2023. Overall, Thai population density is 141 people per square kilometer.
Thailand’s population growth rate reached a peak in 1965 at 3.09% yearly. Since then, the country’s rate of growth has slowly declined and was at 0.15% in 2023 with the median age at 40.2 years. The population is expected to peak at 72.1 million people in 2029 before it starts declining the next year.
Thailand’s Private Consumption Index (CPI) was at 153.16 as of January 2024. This number has steadily increased over the years, indicating a healthy economy with a strong consumer base. Total consumer spending in the Land of Smiles was 1.64 trillion baht in the fourth quarter of 2023.
Alongside tourism, the World Bank expects Thailand’s private consumption to continue driving economic growth in the country. Per capita household consumption increased by 8.1% from 2021 to 2022 and car sales – another important consumption metric – were up by 2.4% from January 2023 to 2024.
In spite of the rise in consumer spending, living in Thailand is still relatively cheap compared to other nations around the globe. Monthly costs excluding rent for a single person on average in Thailand are $568.4 compared to $1,170.5 in the US, $1,034.1 in Germany, and $858 in Japan. That number increases slightly for the capital of Bangkok at $640.8 per month, which is still well below the other countries.
International tourist arrivals to Thailand in 2023 were just over 28 million in total. Of these tourists, the top five nations represented were:
Real estate activities in Thailand have followed broader financial market trends, lagging after the 2008 financial crisis, the 2014 Thai coup, and more recently the COVID-pandemic. Total land and building transactions were down by 29% in 2022, but in 2023 those numbers improved by 26% for a total value of $22.38 billion USD.
Land valuations in Thailand rose slightly across the board in 2023 with single-detached house prices growing by 3.6% in the third quarter of 2023. In Bangkok alone, these house prices grew by 4.1%, condo prices rose by 4.8%, townhouse prices increased by 3.7%, and land prices also grew by 3.8%.
Condominium registrations dropped by 25.8% to 22,482 units in Bangkok and 32.2% to 9,867 units in Thailand’s other provinces. Condo registrations overall fell by 27.9%.
Rental yields in Bangkok were at 5.79% at the end of 2023 while the luxury market yielded 2.19-9.52% depending on the property size and location.
Land development licenses in Thailand for residential property increased in 2023 to 140,752 units according to the Bank of Thailand. This marks a nearly 70% increase from the 83,061 residential licenses in 2022. Development licenses in BKK increased by 25%.
Despite the increase in land development licenses, new housing units fell by 5.8% in the first 10 months of 2023. This includes houses which were up by 37.4%, self-built housing which was up by 30.7%, and condominiums which were down by 47.1%. Of the recent condos launched in Bangkok, many are in the luxury category.
Ever since the dip that coincided with the 2008 financial crisis, land development licenses have held relatively steady. New residential licenses have typically been around 70-90,000 since then, with a pandemic-induced dip to 61,804 in 2021.
Foreign work permit holders in Thailand have overall steadily increased for 3 decades according to the United Nations (UN). In 2018 the total number of work permits issued to foreigners already registered in Thailand (2.2 million) and those entering the country via a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) totaled 3.1 million.
From 2014-17, the total work permits increased from 1.3 to 2.1 million. Of those workers, 42% were women and the other 58% were men.
The country with the most foreigners living in Thailand under professional and skilled occupation permits was Japan at 36,550 in 2017. The next four countries were China, the Philippines, India, and the UK.
Overall, workers from Myanmar held the most permits in 2017 at 2.1 million followed by Cambodia (724,000) and Laos (224,000).
Bangkok’s foreign work permit holders in 2017 made up 52% of all work permit holders. The total number that year for greater BKK was 1.1 million. 58% of this total was male and 42% was female.
Thai government revenue from tax and non-tax sources in 2021 was 3.2 trillion baht according to the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development). Of that 3.2 trillion baht, 2.6 trillion was tax revenue from sources such as goods and service tax (1.5 trillion), property (35.8 billion) and recurrent tax on immovable property (5.4 billion). Non-tax revenue came from sources such as rents, royalties, and interest payments.
World Bank statistics state that from 2000-2021 an average of 15% of the Thai economy’s yearly GDP came from tax revenue. Revenue hit a peak of 17% of GDP in 2013.
Thailand’s employment rate was at 98.3% in 2022 and over the last 2 decades it’s been very steady. Of 58.62 million people over the age of 15 in Thailand, 32% (18.72 million) are not in the labor force. 6.54 million of those people are male and 12.18 million are female. Reasons for lack of participation in the labor force range from household work, studies, and inability due to age or disability.
Thailand has one of the lowest unemployment rates worldwide. World Bank statistics show that it hovers around 1% most years and was at 0.9% in 2022. It reached a 3-decade peak in 1998 at 3.4%.
Pre-elementary school enrolments in Thailand were 1.61 million in total in 2021 according to the Ministry of Education. 1.09 million of those students attended public schools and 523,000 attended private school.
Elementary school students totaled 4.67 million in 2021. Of that total, 3.58 million students went to a public school while 1.09 went to private schools.
In 2021, 11.1 million (1.3 million in Bangkok) out of 58.62 million people over 15 years old had only completed elementary school. 5.82 million of these students were male and 5.29 million were female. This number is on the rise as the government made elementary school and lower secondary school free and mandatory in 1997. The elementary school completion rate in 2019 was 99%.
Lower secondary schools hosted 2.29 million students in 2021 with 1.94 million enrolled at public schools and 345,000 at private ones.
The lower-secondary school completion total in 2021 for those over 15 years of age was 10.66 million people (1.28 million in Bangkok). 5.73 million of this total were male and 4.93 million were female. The completion rate in 2019 according to the UN was 86%.
Upper secondary school enrolments in Thailand were 2 million students in 2021. 1.59 million of those students went to a public school while 404,000 joined private institutions.
In 2021 8.87 million people (1.25 million in Bangkok) of those over 15 years of age had completed upper secondary school. According to the UN, 47% of attendees had graduated from this level in 2019.
Higher-education had 1.9 million enrolments in 2021, 1.51 million of which attended public and 392,000 of which attended private schools. Of those Thai citizens over 15 years of age, 2.18 million (438,000 in Bangkok) had graduated from higher education. 1.22 million of that total were male and 955,000 were female.
Graduate school had a total attendance of roughly 280,000 people. About 225,000 of these students attended a public school and around 55,000 were in a private school.
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