Thaliand
Thailand Profile: Thailand Moving Towards Cashless Habits
Population
Thailand had an estimated population of 69,799,978 as of the middle of 2020, according to UN data. Based on Worldometer elaboration of the latest UN data, the country had a population of 69,912,857 in 2021, with 51.1% living in urban areas, mainly in Bangkok. The median age of the population was 40.1 years.
E-commerce
According to IMF data, Thailand had a gross domestic product of $543.56 billion in 2019, which declined to $509.2 billion in 2020 due to the pandemic. As the economy continues to recover, the GDP is expected to expand to about $536.84 billion in 2021.
Payment preferences
Most Thai shoppers prefer to pay by card (26%), followed by bank transfers, e-wallets, cash and other payment methods. For cashless payments, the biggest player was Visa (71%), followed by MasterCard, local schemes, Amex and other payment methods, according to 2020 PPRO APAC.
Economy
According to IMF data, Thailand had a gross domestic product of $543.56 billion in 2019, which declined to $509.2 billion in 2020 due to the pandemic. As the economy continues to recover, the GDP is expected to expand to about $536.84 billion in 2021.
Internet & mobile phone trends
Data on the percentage of internet users by age group in Thailand is not available. According to Datareportal, there were 48.59 million internet users in January 2021, with an internet penetration rate of 69.5%. Meanwhile, smartphone penetration stood at 45% by the end of 2020, according to the PPRO APAC Report.
Banking
According to data compiled by PPRO APAC, 82% of Thais had bank accounts in 2020, with 10% of them credit card holders.