Thailand: Population and Key Statistics

AsiaCapital: Bangkok#18 by population

With a GDP of $529 billion, Thailand is Southeast Asia's second-largest economy after Indonesia. Tourism is one of the pillars of the economy: before the pandemic the country was known to receive 40 million tourists a year, and the capital, Bangkok, consistently ranks among the world's most visited cities.

Known as "the Detroit of Asia," the country is the region's largest automobile manufacturing center. On the other hand, with a median age above 40, Thailand faces a striking demographic test as one of the rare countries that is growing old while still at a middle-income level.

Population (2025)
71.6 million
71,619,863 people
GDP (2025)
$577bn
nominal, current US dollars
GDP per capita
$8,057
Life expectancy
76.6
years
Area
513,115
km²
Population density
140
people/km²
Median age
40.5
Internet usage
90.9%

Military Strength

Military expenditure (2024)
$5.5bn
5,522 million dollars
Share of GDP
1.08%
NATO guideline: 2%
Share of government spending
4.54%
Spending per capita
$77
per year, per person
Armed forces (2020)
455 thousand
455,000 active personnel
Armed forces per 1,000 people
6.4
1.13% of the labor force

Expenditure figures come from SIPRI and personnel counts from the IISS, both distributed through the World Bank. Source years differ by indicator, so each figure is shown with its own year.

How Thailand compares

Thailand and China — core indicators
05 b10 b15 bGDP per capita ($)Life expectancy (years)Internet usage (%)GDP per capita ($) — Thailand: 8.057Life expectancy (years) — Thailand: 76,6Internet usage (%) — Thailand: 90,9GDP per capita ($) — China: 13.862Life expectancy (years) — China: 78Internet usage (%) — China: 91,6
ThailandChina

The indicators use different scales, so the chart is a rough visual comparison only. For exact figures see the full side-by-side comparison.

Data sourcesPopulation and social indicators: UN World Population Prospects, World BankEconomy: IMF World Economic Outlook, World BankMilitary: SIPRI and IISS, distributed through the World BankLast refreshed: 2026-08-26