March 8, 2024
BANGKOK – This would result in the working-age population shrinking from 46 million to about 14 million, severely affecting the country’s economic development and national security, he added.
Somsak was speaking at a meeting of a committee on preventing teenage pregnancy that he chairs, during which the issue of low birthrate was addressed.
The deputy PM said the number of babies born each year in Thailand had dropped below 500,000, from over 1 million babies born in 1970.
The fertility rate, or average number of births per woman in Thailand, had fallen from 6.29 in 1970 to 1.08 in 2023, he added, citing statistics from the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC).
The NESDC forecasts that Thailand’s population will reach a peak of 67.19 million in 2028, before gradually dropping to 67 million in 2033 and 66.18 million in 2037.
The working-age population will also see a steady drop, from 66.1% in 2017 to 56.8% in 2037, the council projects.
Somsak said he feared this trend could halve the Thai population over the next six decades.
Also of concern is the fall in number of women of reproductive age (15-44 years), which is due to drop to 11.81 million by 2037, compared with 14.2 million in 2017. More than half of women in this group will be 30-44 years old, when fertility is in decline.
Somsak said campaigns to increase the birth rate should target younger women. Births among women over the age of 30 should also be boosted by using medical technology and policies that create a supportive life and work environment, he added.