Trend Analysis of Migration Data in Thailand 2019-2023

TREND ANALYSIS OF MIGRATION DATA IN THAILAND 2019-2023 9 D RECENT INTERNAL MIGRATION FLOWS FIGURE 5: RECENT INTERNAL MIGRANTS BY EMPLOYMENT SECTOR PER YEAR The primary employment sectors among recent internal migrants were grouped into three categories, service and trade, manufacturing, and agriculture, with most working in service and trade during the assessed period. In the first part of the period (2019-2021), an almost nine percentage point drop in the service and trade sector, likely due to pandemic disruptions, was offset by an equal increase in the proportion of recent internal migrants working in manufacturing and agriculture. In 2022 and 2023, as the service and trade sector, particularly the accommodation and food services industry, began to recover, agriculture experienced a 54.0 per cent year-on-year decrease, while manufacturing continued to expand before declining slightly in 2023. FIGURE 3: RECENT INTERNAL MIGRANTS BY HIGHEST LEVEL OF EDUCATION ATTAINED PER YEAR The education levels among recent internal migrants in Thailand saw slight variations over the years. In 2019 and 2020, most recent internal migrants had attained primary and lower secondary education. However, starting in 2021, there was a shift with those holding upper secondary education becoming the most important group among recent internal migrants. This was followed by primary and lower secondary education. Those with a bachelor's degree and above represented the fourth category, while individuals with no formal education made up the smallest proportion. Most recent internal migrants over 15 years old in Thailand are employed, in line with the structure of the labour force in Thailand, with a relatively stable proportion of employed individuals (an average of 60.1% between 2019 and 2023). During the COVID-19 pandemic, the proportion of employed recent internal migrants slightly decreased with a trough at 58.6 per cent in 2021. On the contrary, the proportion of those unemployed or out of the labour force increased during that period. For instance, the proportion of unemployed individuals peaked at 8.0 per cent in 2020. This proportion started declining again after 2021, reaching a record low of 2.8 per cent in 2023. These employment trends highlight the economic and health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused widespread job losses, leaving many unemployed or out of the labour force, and adversely affected individuals' capacity to work. FIGURE 4: RECENT INTERNAL MIGRANTS BY EMPLOYMENT STATUS PER YEAR 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 Percent Employed Unemployed Out of labour force Seasonal Less than 15 years old 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 Percent Service and trade Manufacturing Agriculture 4.8% 4.7% 2.8% 3.0% 3.1% 25.4% 25.6% 22.5% 24.3% 26.0% 22.9% 25.5% 22.1% 19.1% 22.3% 25.0% 24.7% 31.0% 30.0% 26.9% 6.0% 4.7% 7.0% 7.3% 7.0% 15.0% 13.2% 14.0% 16.0% 13.8% 1.7% 1.2% 1.2% 0.6% 0.6% 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 None Primary Lower secondary Upper secondary Post-secondary Bachelor's and above Other