The people of Thailand is getting older, which makes for a bleak outlook.
PUBLISHED: 14 Oct 2024 at 12: 01
Thailand’s remained in 10th posiion on an annual score calculating power and influence in the Asia-Pacific place this season, held up by its ageing population.
The Asia Power Index 2024 was released by the Sydney-based Lowy Institute.
Thailand was ranked 10th with 19.8 items, gaining 1.1 items from last year. But its rating remained the , equal as 2023.
” Thailand’s strongest factors are social impact and economic ties, where it places 7th”, the university said and praised the region for its integration with other Asia-Pacific countries, including financial activities and people markets.
It was also commended for foreign relations policies, according to the Lowy Institute.
Due to its ageing population and the effects this would have on the future, the nation came in poorly on “future resources.”  ,
” Thailand’s lowest ranking is for future resources, where it places 16th, reflecting its less favourable demographic outlook to 2050″, the institute added.
Indonesia was placed a step up, while Indonesia was ranked eighth among the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and Singapore was ranked eighth. Thailand and Vietnam were both ranked 12th, and Malaysia was one notch further back.
The United States remained top of the index, scoring 81.7 points, followed closely by China with 72.7 points.
Japan slipped to fourth place, falling behind fast-growing India due to Tokyo’s prolonged economic stagnation.
The analysis evaluates the comprehensive power of 27 countries and territories in the region, using a weighted average across eight measures such as military capability, economic resources, diplomatic influence and cultural influence, which are calculated by 131 indicators.
Japan had been in third place since the independent body began publishing the annual assessment in 2018, but it dropped to fourth.
Tokyo lost 1.4 points and 4.2 points in the categories of “economic capability” and “economic relationships”, respectively, as the nation’s technological advantage “has eroded sharply in the face of competition” with South Korea, China and Taiwan, the report said.
The trend had “redirected foreign investment away from the Japanese technology sector” and” contributed to Japan’s declining productivity”, it said.
India gained 8.2 points in “future resources”, as the country’s youthful population may well deliver a “demographic dividend” over the decades ahead, it said. The phrase refers to economic growth that occurs when a nation’s working population expands more quickly than its population as a whole.