US Senate · Nation Thailand
Dirty Air Is Costing Thailand Almost 4% of GDP a Year
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New research puts PM2.5's annual cost near 4% of GDP, as campaigners warn political delay is now a bigger threat to growth than the smog itself.
Key facts
- Ask an economist to put a price on Bangkok's haze, and the number is startling: US$45.3 billion a year, or 3.89 per cent of Thailand's GDP, according to a World Bank assessment that ranks the country 20th worst out of 180 for the health
- Consumers spend less when the air is bad — Spanish households, cited as an international comparator, cut spending by US$23–35 million on days when particulate readings spiked above normal
- Prof Witsanu has said of related national-level findings, adding that the 2.17 trillion baht (nearly 11 per cent of GDP) in social costs identified in a 2019 national study accumulates further every year the problem goes unaddressed
- The Lancet Commission on Pollution and Health, in an analysis updated with 2022 data, found pollution to be the leading environmental cause of premature death worldwide, with air pollution responsible for roughly 90 per cent of that toll —
- Bangkok Car Free 2026 encourages residents to switch travel modes
Summary
SustaiNation
Ask an economist to put a price on Bangkok's haze, and the number is startling: US$45.3 billion a year, or 3.89 per cent of Thailand's GDP, according to a World Bank assessment that ranks the country 20th worst out of 180 for the health costs of PM2.5 pollution — the second-heaviest burden in Southeast Asia after Indonesia.