Thailand: Claims on central government, etc. (% of GDP)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2025, Thailand's claims on central government, etc. (% of GDP) rose 5.94 percentage points on 2024 (from 40.63% to 46.57%).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was +1.57 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 3.17 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.4 standard deviations above that average, so it was larger than a typical year, though not out of the range seen before.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 10.08 percentage points in 1998 and the biggest yearly fall was 5.95 percentage points in 1988. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2016 to 2025 the straight-line trend is upward, about 3.4 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 93% of the movement over 10 observed years.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

A straight-line projection, tested first

Extending that straight line gives about 50.94% for 2028. We show this only because the same method, fitted on earlier years, predicted 2023 to 2025 better than "no change" would have: its average miss was 6.84%, against 8.75% for assuming no change. Treat it as a continuation of the recent pattern, not a forecast of events: it cannot see a recession, a policy change or a revision to the data.

See how a linear trend forecast works and the guide on forecasting without fooling yourself.

How it compares

In 2025, Thailand had the 9th highest value of the 106 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.

Closest to Thailand in the 2025 ranking

• Egypt, Arab Rep. — 6th of 106: 48.18%
• El Salvador — 7th of 106: 47.58%
• Morocco — 8th of 106: 47.55%
• Fiji — 10th of 106: 43.37%
• Algeria — 11th of 106: 42.42%
• Mauritius — 12th of 106: 40.9%

What this measures

Claims on central government include loans to central government institutions net of deposits. This indicator is expressed as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which is the total income earned through the production of goods and services in an economic territory during an accounting period.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.

All 66 values

Claims on central government, etc. (% of GDP) in nearby economies

• Australia — 7.99% (2025)
• Brunei Darussalam — 33.27% (2025)
• Cambodia — -11.72% (2025)
• China — 45.99% (2024)
• Fiji — 43.37% (2025)
• Hong Kong SAR, China — -18.42% (2025)
• Indonesia — 12.29% (2025)
• Japan — 116.59% (2025)
• Korea, Rep. — 3.37% (2024)
• Macao SAR, China — -79.46% (2025)

More financial sector data for Thailand

• Domestic credit to private sector by banks (% of GDP) — 111.79% (2025)
• Net domestic credit (current LCU) — 27.91 trillion (2025)
• Net foreign assets (current LCU) — 9.51 trillion (2025)
• Monetary sector credit to private sector (% of GDP) — 111.81% (2025)
• Consumer price index (2010 = 100) — 122.4 (2025)
• Inflation, consumer prices (annual % growth) — -0.13% (2025)
• GDP deflator (base year varies by country) — 164.62 (2025)
• DEC alternative conversion factor (LCU per US$) — US$32.88 (2025)
• Official exchange rate (LCU per US$, period average) — US$32.88 (2025)

Reading data like this

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
• Data analysis examples: 6 worked from one dataset — 3 min read
• Real change or random noise? A plain guide to reading your numbers — 2 min read

Questions people ask

What is Thailand's claims on central government, etc. (% of GDP)?

46.57% in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1960?

It is up 40.6 percentage points from 5.97% in 1960. The highest value was 46.57% in 2025 and the lowest -11.81% in 1996.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator FS.AST.CGOV.GD.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: International Financial Statistics database, International Monetary Fund (IMF); World Development Indicators Database, World Bank (WB); National Accounts data files, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

Want to ask your own questions of data like this? Try AnalyzeIt: upload a file or ask about public data in plain words, and every figure comes with its working.