Thailand Competitiveness Monitor, Edition 1Investment is pouring in, but the engine is still idling

Table 1. The five pillar calls

Overall: -0.20 (Holding). The average of the five calls: strong +1, watch 0, weak −1 for the level, and improving +1, flat 0, slipping −1 for the direction, averaged.

Table 2. The scorecard, measure by measure

How many of the other eight economies Thailand beats on each measure, and whether it gained or lost ground since the previous reading.

Table 3. Key figures

What changed in this edition

• First edition: five pillars tracked against eight Asian economies and the OECD average, with the scorecard rule published
• IMD 2026: Thailand up four places to 26th; Vietnam joins at 27th
• WIPO GII 2026: Thailand 44th, Vietnam 43rd; WIPO's confidence ranges overlap, so the two are level

Method

We track five pillars that the main global indices share: growth, trade and investment, innovation, people and productivity, and institutions. For each we look at two things: the level, where Thailand sits among the nine economies, and the direction, whether it gained or lost ground since the previous reading.

Every call starts from a scorecard computed from the data on this page by the rule below, so anyone can recompute it from the CSV. NXT may move a result by one step on either axis when there is evidence the scorecard cannot measure, and the reason is shown under that pillar.

IMD ranks come from IMD's own yearbook booklets, which list every economy's overall, factor and sub-factor ranks. World Bank figures come straight from its API, WIPO ranks from each economy's profile, and quarterly figures from NESDC's and BOI's own releases.

The scorecard rule

1. Position: on each measure, the number of economies Thailand beats, divided by the number with data minus one. 0 is last, 1 is first.
2. Level: the mean position across the pillar's measures. 2/3 or more is strong, under 1/3 is weak, anything between is watch. Every measure carries the same weight.
3. Direction: Thailand's position against the previous reading of the same measure (five years earlier for World Bank series, the previous edition for IMD and WIPO, the same quarter a year earlier for NESDC's table), counting only economies with both readings. Measures gained minus measures lost, divided by the number of measures: 1/3 or more is improving, −1/3 or less is slipping.
4. NXT adjustments: one step on level or direction at most, never two, always with a reason that points to evidence on this page.

Limits and comparability

• Indices cover different periods: IMD's 2026 ranking uses 2025 data and an executive survey from early 2026.
• Ranks depend on who is ranked: IMD covered 63, 64, 67, 69 and 70 economies from 2022 to 2026 and added Vietnam in 2026, so a move of one or two places can come from economies joining or leaving.
• WIPO publishes a confidence range for every GII rank. Ranks whose ranges overlap, such as Thailand's 44th (41 to 45) and Vietnam's 43rd (40 to 45), are not statistically different.
• The World Bank's 2026 governance update reports scores on a 0 to 100 scale, so they cannot be compared directly with older releases on the previous scale; we use the new series throughout.
• The World Bank revises past figures with every release, so each edition's CSV keeps the figures as they stood on the day it was published.
• Other economies' quarterly growth comes from NESDC's table compiled from CEIC, on each country's own definitions, and may be revised.
• The scorecard reads positions, not the size of gaps, and weights every measure equally. Some World Bank series, such as R&D spending and the LPI, are missing for some years or economies; we use figures no more than two years old and show the year of each.
• Investment applications are not yet investment.

Independence

NXT Consulting Group produces this monitor with its own resources. No client or government body commissioned, reviewed or can change its calls.

NXT advises public and private clients on strategy. The moves under What to do are NXT's recommendations and are kept apart from the data and the calls.

Spotted an error? Write to contact@nxtconsultinggroup.com. We correct the current edition and log the date in the version history; published editions stay as they were, with a note.

Sources

1. AIMD World Competitiveness Center. IMD World Competitiveness Ranking 2026 (booklet): overall and factor ranks 2022 to 2026 and 2026 sub-factor ranks for 70 economies; Vietnam added in 2026. https://imd.widen.net/content/soqks0qkhi/pdf/Booklet_WCY_2026.pdf (Published 2026-06; Accessed 2026-11-04)
2. BIMD World Competitiveness Center. IMD World Competitiveness Ranking 2025 (booklet): 2025 sub-factor ranks for 69 economies; IMD's own file, hosted by CEDA, its partner institute in Australia. https://www.ceda.com.au/getmedia/f3d1ba13-0a29-4c41-9cf2-c9376ebffd2d/2025-IMD-WCY-Booklet-FINAL.pdf (Published 2025-06; Accessed 2026-11-04)
3. BIMD World Competitiveness Center. IMD World Digital Competitiveness Ranking 2025: overall ranking of 69 economies with the change from 2024; IMD's own table, hosted by CEDA, its partner institute in Australia. https://www.ceda.com.au/getmedia/48d5064b-d813-4956-9029-5f92b4f787b1/2025-IMD-digital-competitiveness_overall-rankings.pdf (Published 2025-11; Accessed 2026-11-04)
4. AWorld Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). Global Innovation Index 2026: economy profiles with ranks for 2020 to 2026 and the statistical confidence range of each 2026 rank (Thailand shown; the same path ends vn, my, id, ph, sg, kr, jp, cn). https://www.wipo.int/edocs/gii-ranking/2026/th.pdf (Published 2026; Accessed 2026-11-04)
5. AWorld Bank. World Development Indicators (database, last updated 8 October 2026), read through the World Bank API; each measure links to its own series page. https://databank.worldbank.org/source/world-development-indicators (Published 2026-10-08; Accessed 2026-11-04)
6. AWorld Bank. Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2026 update with data for 2025 (scores on a 0 to 100 scale). https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/worldwide-governance-indicators (Published 2026-09-25; Accessed 2026-11-04)
7. AInternational Monetary Fund. World Economic Outlook, October 2026: real GDP growth (DataMapper). https://www.imf.org/external/datamapper/NGDP_RPCH@WEO (Published 2026-10; Accessed 2026-11-04)
8. AOffice of the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC). Thai economic performance in Q2 2026 and outlook for 2026: Thai figures. https://www.nesdc.go.th/msp-17082569/ (Published 2026-08-17; Accessed 2026-11-04)
9. BOffice of the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC). Thai economic performance in Q2 2026 and outlook for 2026: table of other economies' GDP and export growth, compiled by NESDC from CEIC. https://www.nesdc.go.th/msp-17082569/ (Published 2026-08-17; Accessed 2026-11-04)
10. AThailand Board of Investment (BOI). Investment promotion applications, January to September 2026 (press release). https://www.boi.go.th/index.php?page=press_releases_detail&topic_id=139604&_module=news&from_page=press_releases (Published 2026-10-26; Accessed 2026-11-04)

• A: The publisher's own document or database, on the publisher's site.
• B: The publisher's own file hosted by its official partner institute, or an official body's table of other publishers' figures.
• C: A professional or research body's analysis of the publisher's data.
• D: News, or figures that needed assumptions. This edition uses no C or D sources.

NXT's compilation, judgements and translations are licensed CC BY 4.0. Each figure remains its source's.

How to cite

Trithipcharoenchai, P., & Cheewaprapharat, N. (2026, November 4). Thailand Competitiveness Monitor, edition 1 (data to Q2 2026). NXT Consulting Group. https://www.nxtconsultinggroup.com/en/research/thailand-competitiveness-monitor/edition-1

Trithipcharoenchai, Piyamin, and Nunpaphat Cheewaprapharat. 2026. "Thailand Competitiveness Monitor, edition 1 (data to Q2 2026)." NXT Consulting Group, November 4, 2026. https://www.nxtconsultinggroup.com/en/research/thailand-competitiveness-monitor/edition-1.

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  author      = {Trithipcharoenchai, Piyamin and Cheewaprapharat, Nunpaphat},
  title       = {Thailand Competitiveness Monitor, Edition 1},
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  address     = {Bangkok},
  type        = {Quarterly monitor},
  number      = {1},
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  note        = {Data to Q2 2026},
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