PUBLISHED: 2 Feb 2025 at 07: 18
The state must take immediate action to change Thailand’s declining beginning level, an analyst warned, saying that if the pattern continues, the nation’s workforce will reduce.
The chairman of Mahidol University’s Institute for Population and Social Research, Chalermpol Chamchan, expressed his concern at a recent media presentation. Thailand’s community, according to the Bureau of Registration Administration under the Department of Provincial Administration, was 65, 951, 210 as of December 31 of last year.
However, just 462, 240 babies were reported last month, making 2024 the first time the number has dropped below 500, 000 since 1949, Mr Chalermpol said, before adding 2024 was also the fifth consecutive year in which incidents exceed new babies. Between 1963 and 1983, the nation had over one million babies each month.
The state needs to review its efforts, such as the” Provide Birth, Great World” battle, to see why they have failed to improve the delivery rate, he said. The Public Health Ministry’s ( PHM) initiative, which was launched in 2023, aims to invert the birth rate by promoting the benefits of marriage for young people, many of whom are deciding to delay having babies or to not have one at all.
He claimed that Thailand is the only Southeast Asian nation with a declining delivery level and that immediate action is required. Most countries experiencing a similar pattern are high-income, developed regions. The country’s total fertility rate ( TFR ) fell to 1.0 last year, lower than Japan’s 1.2, placing Thailand among countries with ultra-low fertility rates, which include South Korea and Singapore.
As a result, Thailand’s people may stretch to as low as 40 million over the next five decades– similar to losing about one million people every two years, based on the current people figure of somewhat over 65 million, said Mr Chalermpol. The decline may alter the country’s workforce. If current trends continue unabated, there will only be 22.8 million employees in 50 years, he said.
According to a survey conducted by the Institute for Population and Social Research among 1, 000 Thai adults between the ages of 28 and older, the majority of Thais, or 71 %, view the country’s declining birth rate as a crisis. However, just 35.8 % said they were planning to have kids. About 30 % said they were on the gate. ” With the right type of aid, those who are undecided may choose to include children”, Mr Chalermpol said.
Chalermpol: Help needed