Miller Magazine Issue: 154 October 2022

COUNTRY PROFILE 89 MILLER / OCTOBER 2022 The agricultural and food product exports re- main vital to Thailand’s economy, and Thai- land continues to be a net exporter of agri- food products. Southeast Asian country is the world’s third-largest rice exporter. USDA forecasts that 2022/23 season rice produc- tion will increase for the third consecutive year due to available water supply and abun- dant precipitation. Prices of Thai rice exports are attractive and competitive, driven by the weakening of the Thai baht. Located in the heart of mainland Southeast Asia, Thailand is the second largest economy in the Association of Southeast Asian Na- tion (ASEAN) after Indonesia. With a well-developed infrastructure, a free-enterprise economy, and generally pro-investment policies, Thailand historically has had a strong economy. Its gross domestic product (GDP) in 2021 was $513 billion, growing 1.6 percent from the previous year. The Thai economy is projected to expand be- tween 2.5 and 3.5 percent in 2022, mainly supported by improved domestic demand, a partial recovery of the tourism sector, and continued strength in exports. Agriculture accounts for only six percent of GDP in Thailand but the sector employs around one-third of the country’s labor force. The country is the largest producer of natural rubber in the world and one of the leading producers and exporters of rice; it also possesses sugar, corn, jute, cotton and tobacco among its major Thailand Grain Outlook