Achieving a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) valued at US$273.25 billion, Thailand was the world’s 35th richest country in 2008.
With a population of 65.9 million Thais who generated an average GDP of $8,400 per person last year, Thailand finished 116th among other nations in terms of GDP per capita.
As the world’s 27th biggest exporter, Thailand shipped $174.8 billion worth of exports in 2008. Principal Thai exports were textiles, footwear, fish, rice, rubber, jewelry, automobiles, computers and electrical appliances. Based on 2008 statistics, Thailand’s largest export clients were the United States (11.4%), Japan (11.4%), China (9.2%), Singapore (5.7%), Hong Kong (5.6%), Malaysia (5.6%) and Australia (4.3%).
According to the CIA World Factbook, Thailand imported $157.3 billion worth of foreign goods last year. Major commodities imported into Thailand include capital goods, consumer goods and fuels. Leading suppliers to Thailand were Japan (18.8%), China (11.2%), the United States (6.4%), the United Arab Emirates (6%), Malaysia (5.5%), Saudi Arabia (4.1%) and Singapore (4%).
In total, Thailand’s international trade amounted to $332.1 billion or 121.5% in relation to its overall GDP. Compares with a trade percentage of roughly 25% for the U.S. and 60% for Canada, Thailand may well be overly dependent on global trade and needs to develop its relatively weak domestic economy.
Thai Trade with the U.S.
Last year, Thai exports to America rose 3.4% to $23.5 billion. Over that same period, Thailand bought $9.1 billion worth of U.S. imports – an increase of 8.8%.
Therefore, Thailand’s robust trade surplus with the U.S. came to $14.4 billion in 2008.
The lists below present the top 10 exports and imports that American and Thai enterprises exchanged in 2008. The fastest-growing trade product categories are also shown.
Thailand’s Top Exports to America
The following top 10 Thai exports represent 60.1% of all exports shipped from Thailand to the U.S. in 2008.
- Computer accessories and parts … US$3.8 billion, up 8% from 2007 (16.3% of US imports from Thailand)
- Telecommunications equipment … $2.2 billion, down 0.6% (9.3%)
- Fish and shellfish … $2 billion, up 10.3% (8.4%)
- Semiconductors … $1.1 billion, down 13.1% (4.6%)
- Cotton apparel and household goods … $1 billion, down 7.4% (4.4%)
- Jewelry including watches and rings … $938.2 million, down 21.7% (4%)
- Video equipment like television receivers and DVD players … $930.5 million, up 24.4% (4%)
- Other vehicle parts and accessories … $773.6 million, down 2.8% (3.3%)
- Other textiles apparel and household goods … $729.1 million, up 0.6% (3.1%)
- Natural rubber and similar gums … $629.4 million, up 32% (2.7%).
Fastest-Growing Thai Exports to the U.S.
The following 10 product categories for Thai exports to America experienced percentage gains ranging from at least 90.4% for food oils to 907,400% for U.S. tin.
- Tin … US$36.3 million, up 907,400% from 2007
- Oilfield and drilling equipment … $10.2 million, up 127,500%
- Other precious metals except gold … $44 million, up 1,294.4%
- Non-monetary gold … $5.5 million, up 350.7%
- Complete and assembled vehicles … $1.8 million, up 329.3%
- DVDs, tapes and disks … $24.4 million, up 276.2%
- Pulpwood … $2.2 million, up 205%
- Industrial inorganic chemicals … $10.4 million, up 132.8%
- Pulp and paper machinery … $10.5 million, up 98.3%
- Food oils and oilseeds … $1.6 million, up 90.4%.
Thailand’s Top Imports from America
America’s top 10 exports to Thailand accounted for 47.9% of total Thai imports from the U.S. during 2008. These products include raw materials such as cotton and steelmaking materials for labor-intensive manufacturing industries in Thailand.
- Semiconductors … US$1.2 billion, down 11.5% from 2007 (13.7% of US exports to Thailand)
- Computer accessories and parts … $707.1 million, down 6.3% (7.8%)
- Steelmaking materials … $452.6 million, up 78.9% (5%)
- Telecommunications equipment … $341.1 million, up 33.5% (3.8%)
- Other chemicals … $297.5 million, up 60% (3.3%)
- Other industrial machines … $281.1 million, up 8.7% (3.1%)
- Raw cotton … $272.5 million, up 37.4% (3%)
- Plastic materials … $270.5 million, up 17.2% (3%)
- Other petroleum products … $257.9 million, up 83.9% (2.8%)
- Non-monetary gold … $215.5 million, up 556.7% (2.4%).
Fastest-Growing Thai Imports from the U.S.
Military products dominate 3 of America’s top 10 fastest-growing export categories delivered to Thailand last year.
- Fuel oil … US$19.8 million, up 34,688%
- Rice … $5.8 million, up 5,880%
- Military apparel and footwear … $13.5 million, up 2,749%
- Military trucks, armored vehicles … $1.7 million, up 754.3%
- Non-monetary gold … $215.4 million, up 556.7%
- Non-farm tractors and parts … $5.4 million, up 309.6%
- Unmanufactured agricultural industry goods … $49.8 million, up 240%
- Artillery, guns, missiles and tanks … $19.3 million, up 230.1%
- Glass including plates and sheets … $12.2 million, up 219.9%
- Specialized mining equipment … $3.2 million, up 189.7%.
Comparative Trade Advantages
During 2008, Thailand exported $1 billion worth of cotton wear and household goods to the U.S. while importing only $2 million worth of American cotton fiber cloth.
These Thai-American trade statistics show that Thailand has comparative advantages over the U.S. in the trade of manufactured cotton goods between the 2 nations.
On the other hand, America exported $272.5 million worth of faw cotton to Thailand in 2008 contrasted with U.S. imports of Thai wool and cotton natural fibers worth a combined total of just $18,000.
That the U.S. exported many thousands of times the value of Thai cotton source materials clearly shows that America has a strong comparative advantage in exporting raw cotton to Thailand.
Sources
This analysis is based on latest statistics from the US Census Bureau- Foreign Trade Statistics and CIA World Factbook as of the date of article publication.
Daniel Workman - A senior business and finance writer who also does French translations, notably international trade and insurance materials.
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