Deloitte Thailand Insights

Thai Housing Market Faces Challenges, Future Trends to Monitor

The Thai economy in 2024 is still recovering slowly and growing below expectations. Tourism, which was a major driver of the Thai economy before the pandemic, is still a concern. One of the most important factors in the low economic growth is the household debt problem. However, Deloitte views that private consumption and tourism will remain the main engines for GDP growth in 2024. We expect that private investment will also play a greater role in supporting economic growth

2023 Semiconductor Outlook

There is ongoing debate regarding whether Thailand's economy in the “Year of the Snake" will face greater challenges than it did in the previous “Year of the Dragon”. Looking back to 1990, Thailand experienced the highest GDP growth rate in the ASEAN region at 11%, with an average GDP growth rate of 8.7% from 1990 to 1995, compared to ASEAN’s overall growth of 5.6%. However, following the Asian financial crisis, Thailand's economic growth began to decline and fell below that of several ASEAN countries. Over the past decade (2014 to 2023), Thailand's GDP grew by only 1.8%, whereas ASEAN's growth surpassed 3.7%.

Semiconductor sales are projected to increase significantly in 2025, primarily driven by substantial contributions from generative AI (GenAI) chips.

Thailand’s 2023 economic recovery was downgraded to 1.9% by lower-than-expected demand and foreign tourism spending, subdued export, and delayed state budget planning. NESDC predicted that Thai economy would grow only 2.2-3.2% this year, mainly driven by the continuous expansion of domestic consumption and tourism sector. Still, the Thai economic recovery hinges on several key factors, including domestic uncertainties, sluggish growth abroad, potential disruptions from geopolitical tensions, and the burden of elevated household debt.