Number of people living in extreme poverty in Thailand
Thailand: Number of people living in extreme poverty was 71.66 million people in 2024. ▲ Rising
Latest (2024)
71.66 million people
Change on year
down 0.1%
World rank
19th
of 120 countries
All-time high
71.72 million people
in 2022
All-time low
32.14 million people
in 1981
Years of data
30
1981–2024
Number of people living in extreme poverty in Thailand, 1981–2024
Source: World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in people.
Analysis
Thailand recorded 71.66 million people for number of people living in extreme poverty in 2024.
The figure is down 0.1% on the previous year and up 2.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, number of people living in extreme poverty in Thailand peaked at 71.72 million people in 2022 and was at its lowest, 32.14 million people, in 1981.
Thailand ranks 19th of 120 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 30 years of available data.
Number of people living in extreme poverty in Thailand, year by year
| Year | people | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1981 | 32.14 million people | — |
| 1988 | 38.82 million people | +20.8% |
| 1990 | 43.22 million people | +11.3% |
| 1992 | 47.36 million people | +9.6% |
| 1994 | 52.87 million people | +11.6% |
| 1996 | 56.07 million people | +6.0% |
| 1998 | 58.01 million people | +3.5% |
| 1999 | 57.12 million people | -1.5% |
| 2000 | 57.69 million people | +1.0% |
| 2002 | 61.27 million people | +6.2% |
| 2004 | 63.43 million people | +3.5% |
| 2006 | 65.09 million people | +2.6% |
| 2007 | 66.24 million people | +1.8% |
| 2008 | 66.95 million people | +1.1% |
| 2009 | 67.59 million people | +1.0% |
| 2010 | 68.09 million people | +0.8% |
| 2011 | 68.80 million people | +1.0% |
| 2012 | 69.17 million people | +0.5% |
| 2013 | 69.70 million people | +0.8% |
| 2014 | 70.06 million people | +0.5% |
| 2015 | 70.45 million people | +0.6% |
| 2016 | 70.76 million people | +0.4% |
| 2017 | 71.09 million people | +0.5% |
| 2018 | 71.30 million people | +0.3% |
| 2019 | 71.43 million people | +0.2% |
| 2020 | 71.60 million people | +0.2% |
| 2021 | 71.71 million people | +0.2% |
| 2022 | 71.72 million people | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 71.70 million people | -0.0% |
| 2024 | 71.66 million people | -0.1% |
Thailand compared with similar countries
- Thailand's 71.66 million people is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 16.37 million people, 4.4× the median. (35 countries reporting)
- Thailand's 71.66 million people is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 71.66 million people, 1.0× the median. (11 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 35.48 million people | 32.14 million people | 38.82 million people | 2 |
| 1990s | 52.44 million people | 43.22 million people | 58.01 million people | 6 |
| 2000s | 64.04 million people | 57.69 million people | 67.59 million people | 7 |
| 2010s | 70.08 million people | 68.09 million people | 71.43 million people | 10 |
| 2020s | 71.68 million people | 71.60 million people | 71.72 million people | 5 |
Countries ranked near Thailand
More poverty & inequality data for Thailand
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via the World Bank 9 surveys (2025)
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 surveys per person (2025)
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 surveys per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Fertility rate vs. share living in extreme poverty 1.21 live births per woman (2023)
- Cereal yield vs. share in extreme poverty 3,072 kg per hectare (2023)
- Cereal yield vs extreme poverty, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
- Cereal yield vs extreme poverty, annual growth rate -1.09 % change on previous year (2023)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, gaps filled 17.04 (2023)
- Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality 17.0% (2023)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is number of people living in extreme poverty in Thailand?
- Number of people living in extreme poverty in Thailand was 71.66 million people in 2024, according to World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest number of people living in extreme poverty recorded in Thailand?
- The highest recorded value was 71.72 million people in 2022.
- What is the lowest number of people living in extreme poverty recorded in Thailand?
- The lowest recorded value was 32.14 million people in 1981.
- How does Thailand rank for number of people living in extreme poverty?
- Thailand ranks 19th out of 120 countries with data for 2024.
- Is number of people living in extreme poverty rising or falling in Thailand?
- Over the last ten years it is up 2.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Thailand data come from?
- The figures come from World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Number of people living in extreme poverty. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 30 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Number of people living in households with an income or consumption above $3 per day.