Thailand Q2 GDP contracts 12.2% amid COVID-induced recession

Shut borders and business lockdowns hit Southeast Asia's second-largest economy

The lack of foreign tourists has been a huge blow to Thailand's economy during the coronavirus pandemic. © Reuters

MASAYUKI YUDA and APORNRATH PHOONPHONGPHIPHAT, Nikkei staff writers

August 17, 2020 12:10 JST

BANGKOK -- Thailand recorded the largest economic contraction in 22 years in the quarter ending June, keeping Southeast Asia's second-largest economy trapped in a coronavirus-induced recession.

Gross domestic product shrank 12.2% in the second quarter compared to the same period the previous year, the Office of the National Economic and Social Development Council, the kingdom's economic planning agency, announced on Monday. It is the biggest contraction since 1998 when Thailand posted a 12.5% contraction recorded in the second quarter because of the Asian Financial Crisis.