Thailand’s economy shrank by 6.1 pct in 2020
BANGKOK, Feb 15 – Thailand’s economy shrank by 6.1 per cent in 2020, its biggest fall since the 1998 Asian financial crisis.
In a statement, the Office of the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC) said the country’s economy declined by 4.2 per cent year-on-year in the fourth quarter of the year (Q4 2020), although this was an improvement from the contraction of 6.4 per cent in the preceding quarter.
“Seasonally adjusted, the economy increased by 1.3 per cent from Q3 2020.
“In 2020, the Thai economy decreased by 6.1 per cent, compared with an expansion of 2.3 per cent in 2019,” it said.
Meanwhile, the NESDC downgraded its 2021 economic growth forecast for Thailand to 2.5 -3.5 per cent from its previous forecast of 3.5 – 4.5 per cent growth as the COVID-19 pandemic crisis ravaged the country’s economy.
It expected the economic expansion to be mainly supported by the recovery in the global economy and global trade volume, the government’s stimulus measures, the rebound of domestic private demand and the unusually low base effect in 2020.
It projected exports to grow by 5.8 per cent this year, improving from the 6.6 per cent contraction in 2020.
The NESDC also revised its export volume forecast upward to a 3.8 per cent growth from 3.2 per cent in the previous projection.
Meanwhile, as for its tourism sector, the state planning agency projected that the country would receive 3.2 million visitors this year compared to its earlier projection of 5.0 million arrivals.
The sector, a vital growth driver, was severely hit by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The country had only received 6.7 million foreign tourists last year, compared to nearly 40 million arrivals in 2019.
— BERNAMA