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TOP 10
List of Thailand’s Top 10 Exports

Thailand shipped US$213.6 billion worth of goods around the globe in 2016, up by 40.1% since 2009 when the Great Recession kicked in and up by 1.3% from 2015 to 2016.

Thailand’s top 10 exports accounted for almost three-quarters (72%) of the overall value of its global shipments.

Based on statistics from the Central Intelligence Agency’s World Factbook, Thailand’s total Gross Domestic Product amounted to $1.161 trillion in 2016.

Therefore, exports accounted for about 18.4% of total Thai economic output.

From a continental perspective, 62.6% of Thai exports by value are delivered to other Asian countries while 13.4% are sold to North American importers. Thailand ships another 13% to Europe with just 2.9% going to Africa.

Given Thailand’s population of about 68.2 million people, its total $213.6 billion in 2016 exports translates to roughly $3,100 for every resident in that country.

Thailand’s unemployment rate was 0.8% as of December 2016 according to Trading Economics, up from 0.65% one year earlier.

TOP 10

The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in Thai global shipments during 2016. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from Thailand.

  1. Machinery including computers: US$37.2 billion (17.4% of total exports)
  2. Electrical machinery, equipment: $29.7 billion (13.9%)
  3. Vehicles : $27.2 billion (12.7%)
  4. Gems, precious metals: $14.2 billion (6.6%)
  5. Rubber, rubber articles: $12.2 billion (5.7%)
  6. Plastics, plastic articles: $11.4 billion (5.3%)
  7. Mineral fuels including oil: $6.3 billion (2.9%)
  8. Meat/seafood preparations: $5.9 billion (2.8%)
  9. Optical, technical, medical apparatus: $5.3 billion (2.5%)
  10. Cereals: $4.6 billion (2.1%)

Fastest-growing product categories over the 7-year period starting in 2009 were vehicles (up 126.9%), optical, technical and medical equipment (up 86.7%), plastics (up 67.2%) and gems and precious metals (up 45.4%) led by gold, jewelry and diamonds.

Only two top Thai export product categories declined, namely mineral fuels including oil (down -19.7%) and cereals (down -13.8%). The cereals category drop was led by rice and to a lesser extent corn.

Advantages

The following types of Thai product shipments represent positive net exports or a trade balance surplus. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports.

In a nutshell, net exports is the amount by which foreign spending on a home country’s goods or services exceeds or lags the home country’s spending on foreign goods or services. Thailand ran an overall $17.9 billion trade surplus for 2016, down -4.6% from $18.7 billion during 2009.

  1. Vehicles: US$18.4 billion (Up by 151.7% since 2009)
  2. Machinery including computers: $10.9 billion (Up by 49.8%)
  3. Rubber, rubber articles: $10 billion (Up by 27.2%)
  4. Meat/seafood preparations: $5.7 billion (Up by 6.5%)
  5. Gems, precious metals: $5.5 billion (Up by 46.1%)
  6. Cereals: $3.6 billion (Down by -27.8%)
  7. Plastics, plastic articles: $3.4 billion (Up by 70.4%)
  8. Sugar, sugar confectionery: $2.4 billion (Up by 25%)
  9. Vegetable/fruit/nut preparations: $2.1 billion (Up by 47.4%)
  10. Wood: $1.9 billion (Up by 165.5%)

Thailand has highly positive net exports in the international trade of automobiles with cars and motorcycles creating larger surpluses than trucks. These cashflows indicate Thailand’s strong competitive advantages under the vehicles product category.

Opportunities

Below are exports from Thailand that result in negative net exports or product trade balance deficits. These negative net exports reveal product categories where foreign spending on home country Thailand’s goods trail Thai importer spending on foreign products.

  1. Mineral fuels including oil: -US$18.4 billion (Up by 7.5% since 2009)
  2. Electrical machinery, equipment: -$8.8 billion (Up by 217.2%)
  3. Iron, steel: -$8.6 billion (Up by 46.7%)
  4. Articles of iron or steel: -$2.5 billion (Down by -6,431%)
  5. Other chemical goods: -$2.1 billion (Up by 75.3%)
  6. Aircraft, spacecraft: -$1.7 billion (Down by -417.4%)
  7. Copper: -$1.7 billion (Up by 18.4%)
  8. Pharmaceuticals: -$1.7 billion (Up by 55.4%)
  9. Aluminum: -$1.6 billion (Up by 108.6%)
  10. Fertilizers: -$1.3 billion (Up by 6.5%)

Thailand has highly negative net exports and therefore deep international trade deficits for the mineral fuels category. Under that category Thailand’s greatest shortfalls are for crude oil, petroleum gas and coal.

These cashflow deficiencies clearly indicate Thailand’s competitive disadvantages in the international fossil fuel market, but also represent key opportunities for Thailand to improve its position in the global economy through focused innovations in alternative energy sources.

Companies

Thai Export Companies

Fifteen Thai corporations rank among Forbes Global 2000 for 2015. Below is a sample of the major companies headquartered in Thailand that Forbes included:

  • PTT PCL (energy)
  • Siam Cement (specialized chemicals)
  • PTT Global Chemical (diversified chemicals)
  • Thai Beverage (beverages)
  • Thai Oil (oil, gas)
  • Total Access Communication (telecommunications)

According to global trade intelligence firm Zepol, the following companies are examples of smaller Thai exporters:

  • Dole Thailand (pineapples, plastic boxes/cases, fruit mixtures)
  • Thai Agri Foods Public (non-alcoholic beverages, nuts, fruit/vegetable juices)
  • Dana Spicer Thailand (automotive parts, latex, rubber transmission belts)
  • Minson Enterprises Thailand (footwear, skates, sporting equipment)
  • British Millerain Thailand (textile fabrics, vulcanized rubber, coconut yarn)