Thailand’s annual productivity growth has tumbled to 1.7 percent since 2020, falling sharply from 4.8 percent in the early 2000s and threatening the nation’s goal to achieve high-income status by 2037, Asia News Network reported.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development highlighted the stalled income convergence at the Future-Ready Economy 2026 conference in October. Thailand’s gross domestic product per person climbed from 30 percent of the OECD average in 2000 to 40 percent in 2013, but flatlined at 40 percent through 2024.
Danucha Pichayanan, secretary-general of the National Economic and Social Development Council, told Bangkok Biznews that discussions with the OECD included establishing a dedicated agency or national committee to strengthen productivity and competitiveness. Stronger output is central to Thailand’s efforts to secure economic growth of 3 percent or more and push toward 5 percent annually as expanding the domestic workforce becomes increasingly difficult.
Agriculture and industry face starkly different structural hurdles. Danucha noted that the agricultural sector employs nearly 30 percent of the Thai workforce yet contributes only 8 to 9 percent of GDP, with growth frequently hindered by adverse weather.
Technology, precision agriculture, and tighter management of public agricultural budgets remain vital to boosting farm output. Meanwhile, manufacturing demands continuous upskilling as automated machinery spreads across factories, pushing workers toward collaborative roles alongside artificial intelligence.
To prepare the labor market, the government launched the Thailand Skill Bridge programme in partnership with the Ministry of Industry, the Board of Investment, and the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation. Franziska Ohnsorge, the World Bank’s chief economist for Asia, stressed at an October 8, 2026 forum that stronger productivity is essential to sustaining growth as the working-age population stagnates.
The OECD recommended establishing a national productivity council supported by a specialized secretariat to accelerate reforms. Six institutional groupings, including the Bank of Thailand and the Ministry of Labour, would contribute to the collaborative framework.
The draft 14th National Economic and Social Development Plan places total factor productivity at the center of its five reform pillars. These pillars target economic transformation, public-sector agility, human capital development, sustainable environmental management, and expanded research and innovation investment.
