Trend Analysis of Migration Data in Thailand 2019-2023

TREND ANALYSIS OF MIGRATION DATA IN THAILAND 2019-2023 15 RECENT INFLOWS OF INTERNATIONAL MIGRANTS FIGURE 17: RECENT INTERNATIONAL MIGRANTS BY HIGHEST LEVEL OF EDUCATION ATTAINED PER YEAR The education levels of recent international migrants in Thailand between 2019 and 2023 fluctuated. In 2019, two-thirds of migrants at most had a primary education. The share of recent international migrants without education rose from 31.1 per cent in 2019 to 42.0 per cent in 2020 and then to 47.8 per cent in 2022— the highest of all educational levels, showing a substantial educational gap among recent international migrants that year. However, this figure then dropped sharply to 18.5 per cent in 2023. In 2023, 76.0 per cent of recent international migrants had either a primary, lower secondary, or upper secondary education. FIGURE 16: RECENT INTERNATIONAL MIGRANTS BY AGE GROUP PER YEAR Recent international migrants are predominantly aged 35 to 59 years old, with the share of immigrants in this age group remaining relatively consistent throughout the five-year period, besides a slight decrease from 37.4 per cent in 2019 to 36.8 per cent in 2021. Meanwhile, among recent international migrants, the next most common age groups were individuals aged 60 and above and those aged below 15. This contrasts with recent internal migrants, where these age groups were the least represented. FIGURE 18: RECENT INTERNATIONAL MIGRANTS BY EMPLOYMENT STATUS PER YEAR Employed migrants 15 years old and above remained the primary category of recent international migrants by employment status during the period, despite a trough in 2020, likely due to the pandemic. The proportion of employed international migrants significantly increased from 69.8 per cent in 2020 to 92.8 per cent in 2021. In addition, the proportion of recent international migrants out of the labour force rose from 2019 to 2020, also coinciding with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 Percent 0 - 14 15 - 24 25 - 34 35 - 59 60+ 31.1% 31.7% 42.0% 47.8% 18.5% 35.8% 47.3% 44.5% 18.9% 45.2% 8.6% 5.8% 8.6% 13.6% 5.9% 4.6% 3.5% 17.0% 1.0% 12.8% 2.2% 2.9% 5.8% 10.6% 10.9% 18.3% 5.2% 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 None Primary Lower secondary Upper secondary Post-secondary Bachelor's and above Other 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 Percent Employed Unemployed Out of labour force Seasonal Less than 15 years old