Economy - overview:
Thailand has a well developed infrastructure, a free-enterprise economy, and welcomes foreign investment. Thailand has fully recovered from the 1997-98 Asian Financial Crisis and was one of East Asia 's best performers in 2002-04. Increased consumption and investment spending and strong export growth pushed GDP growth up to 6.9% in 2003 and 6.1% in 2004 despite a sluggish global economy. The highly popular government's expansionist policy, including major support of village economic development, has raised concerns about fiscal discipline and the health of financial institutions. Bangkok has pursued preferential trade agreements with a variety of partners in an effort to boost exports and maintain high growth, and in 2004 began negotiations on a Free Trade Agreement with the US . In late December 2004, a major tsunami took 8,500 lives in Thailand and caused massive destruction of property in the southern provinces of Krabi, Phangnga, and Phuket.

GDP:
purchasing power parity - $524.8 billion (2004 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
6.1% (2004 est.)

GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $8,100 (2004 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 9%
industry: 44.3%
services: 46.7% (2004 est.)

Labor force:
36.43 million (November 2004 est.)

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

Unemployment rate:
1.5% (November 2004 est.)

Population below poverty line:
10% (2004 est.)

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

Distribution of family income - Gini index:
51.1 (2002)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
2.8% (2004 est.)

Investment (gross fixed):
22.5% of GDP (Jan - Sep 2004 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $30.86 billion
expenditures: $31.94 billion, including capital expenditures of $5 billion (2004 est.)

Public debt:
47.6% of GDP (November 2004 est.)