Proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income in Thailand
Thailand: Proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income was 9.6% in 2024. ▼ Falling
Proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income in Thailand, 1981–2024
Source: World Bank, Poverty and Inequality Platform. Data are based on primary household survey data obtained from government statistical agencies and World Bank country departments. Data for high-income econ. Measured in %.
Analysis
The most recent figure for proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income in Thailand is 9.6%, measured in 2024.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 2.1% on the previous year and down 15.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income in Thailand peaked at 17.7% in 1981 and was at its lowest, 9.4%, in 2023.
That places Thailand 86th out of 123 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 30 years of available data.
Proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income in Thailand, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1981 | 17.7% | — |
| 1988 | 14.0% | -20.9% |
| 1990 | 11.4% | -18.6% |
| 1992 | 13.6% | +19.3% |
| 1994 | 12.1% | -11.0% |
| 1996 | 12.2% | +0.8% |
| 1998 | 12.2% | +0.0% |
| 1999 | 13.4% | +9.8% |
| 2000 | 12.2% | -9.0% |
| 2002 | 12.9% | +5.7% |
| 2004 | 13.7% | +6.2% |
| 2006 | 15.0% | +9.5% |
| 2007 | 13.1% | -12.7% |
| 2008 | 13.6% | +3.8% |
| 2009 | 13.3% | -2.2% |
| 2010 | 12.4% | -6.8% |
| 2011 | 10.4% | -16.1% |
| 2012 | 12.8% | +23.1% |
| 2013 | 11.8% | -7.8% |
| 2014 | 11.3% | -4.2% |
| 2015 | 10.0% | -11.5% |
| 2016 | 10.7% | +7.0% |
| 2017 | 11.0% | +2.8% |
| 2018 | 11.3% | +2.7% |
| 2019 | 9.6% | -15.0% |
| 2020 | 10.6% | +10.4% |
| 2021 | 10.0% | -5.7% |
| 2022 | 10.3% | +3.0% |
| 2023 | 9.4% | -8.7% |
| 2024 | 9.6% | +2.1% |
Thailand compared with similar countries
- Thailand's 9.6% is below the median for upper middle income countries, which is 14.8%, 65% of the median. (38 countries reporting)
- Thailand's 9.6% is below the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 11.3%, 85% of the median. (11 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 15.8% | 14.0% | 17.7% | 2 |
| 1990s | 12.5% | 11.4% | 13.6% | 6 |
| 2000s | 13.4% | 12.2% | 15.0% | 7 |
| 2010s | 11.1% | 9.6% | 12.8% | 10 |
| 2020s | 10.0% | 9.4% | 10.6% | 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 proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income in Thailand?
- Proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income in Thailand was 9.6% in 2024, according to World Bank, Poverty and Inequality Platform. Data are based on primary household survey data obtained from government statistical agencies and World Bank country departments. Data for high-income econ.
- What is the highest proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income recorded in Thailand?
- The highest recorded value was 17.7% in 1981.
- What is the lowest proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income recorded in Thailand?
- The lowest recorded value was 9.4% in 2023.
- How does Thailand rank for proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income?
- Thailand ranks 86th out of 123 countries with data for 2024.
- Is proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income rising or falling in Thailand?
- Over the last ten years it is down 15.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Thailand data come from?
- The figures come from World Bank, Poverty and Inequality Platform. Data are based on primary household survey data obtained from government statistical agencies and World Bank country departments. Data for high-income econ, published as part of Proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 30 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
The percentage of people in the population who live in households whose per capita income or consumption is below half of the median income or consumption per capita. The median is measured at 2021 Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) using the Poverty and Inequality Platform (http://www.pip.worldbank.org). For some countries, medians are not reported due to grouped and/or confidential data. The reference year is the year in which the underlying household survey data was collected. In cases for which the data collection period bridged two calendar years, the first year in which data were collected is reported.