Tourism, real estate among 5 industries that grew the most in 2023

Department director-general Oramon Sapthaweetham said that the five industries that saw the biggest expansion in the past year were:

▪︎ Tourism (growing 64% year on year), including tour guides, travel agencies, hotels, resorts, spas, and foreign currency exchange

▪︎ Real estate (up 36%), including real estate developers and real estate agents

▪︎ Herbal products (up 33%), including herbal medicines, fragrances, and spices

▪︎ Electrical and electronic installations (up 25%)

▪︎ E-commerce (up 19%)

The three industries that contracted in the past year were:

▪︎ Plastic packaging and chemicals (down 30%), including chemical fertilizers and inorganic compound manufacturing

▪︎ Offline retail (down 12%)

▪︎ Industries related to fossil fuel (down 5%), including petrol service stations, wholesale of frozen/liquid fuel, and mining.

The department also forecast that in 2024, the following businesses would see growth:

▪︎ Tourism-related businesses, including MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) hotels, resorts, apartments, guesthouses, tour guides, travel agencies, restaurants, and foreign currency exchange

▪︎ Health-related businesses, such as personal care products and services, aesthetics clinics, hospitals, specialised clinics, pharmaceutical retail, and senior care

▪︎ Lifestyle businesses, including pet care, pet food and equipment, recycling, and environmental consulting

▪︎ Digital businesses, including online retail, digital payment, website development, software development and consulting

Oramon said the department had collected data from various aspects and agencies, including the number of new business registrations, employment rate, and investment value. External factors such as popularity, government policies and economic indices were also used to weigh the estimates.