Government employees, farmers and private sector employees are the most indebted, primarily because of home and car purchases, according to a 2024 survey conducted by the Trade Policy and Strategy Office (TPSO).
The survey of 6,291 respondents regarding their debt burden last year indicated a slight improvement from 2023, with a reduction in informal debt.
The survey found 51% of respondents reported having outstanding debt, a decrease from 62.5% in 2023.
In terms of occupations, 68.2% of government employees are carrying debt, followed by 57.2% of farmers and 53.2% of private-sector employees, similar to the survey in 2023.
Students and retirees had the lowest debt burdens at 20.5% and 26.7%, respectively.
The majority of respondents expressed a desire for government intervention to reduce interest rates, said Poonpong Naiyanapakorn, director-general of TPSO.
Regarding income and debt, the survey found 81.3% of those earning more than 100,000 baht per month hold debt, followed by 76.2% of those earning 50,001 to 100,000 baht, and 63% of those earning 40,001 to 50,000 baht.
The survey suggested a direct correlation between income and debt burden, as higher-income groups tended to have more debt.
Mr Poonpong said the main reasons for debt include real estate and vehicle purchases (27.5%), followed by increasing daily living expenses (25.6%) and investment-related debt (11.9%).
Retirees and unemployed respondents identified rising living costs as their main source of debt.
The majority of debt was formal (79.9%), followed by a combination of formal and informal debt (13.5%), with purely informal debt at 6.58%, a slight decline from 7.19% in 2023.
For government employees, 90.4% of their debt is formal debt, while farmers had the highest proportion of mixed formal and informal debt at 22.2%.
Freelancers recorded the highest level of informal debt at 15.6%, likely due to difficulties accessing formal loans, noted TPSO.
Lower-income groups or those earning up to 20,000 baht monthly also reported a significant portion of informal debt, highlighting their financial difficulties.
The survey found the most common source of debt was financial institution loans at 28.9%, down from 48.4% in the previous survey. Credit card debt accounted for 24.5%, while cooperative loans made up 15.6%.
Private sector employees and those earning 40,001 to 50,000 baht per month had the highest proportion of credit card debt, while government employees and retirees recorded the highest proportion of cooperative loans.
Regarding debt payment, the majority of respondents had formal monthly debt payments of up to 10,000 baht, accounting for 56.8% of the total, followed by monthly payments of 10,001 to 30,000 baht for 28.6% and 30,001 to 50,000 baht for 4.7%.
For informal debt, 23.7% of respondents had monthly repayments of up to 10,000 baht, with smaller groups paying 10,001-30,000 baht and 30,001-50,000 baht per month.
