Thailand

EU trade relations with Thailand. Facts, figures and latest developments.

• Thailand

• Negotiations and agreements
• Trade policy

Negotiations for an EU-Thailand Free Trade Agreement (FTA) were launched in March 2013 and put on hold in 2014 following the military take-over in the country. Following the Council Conclusions of 2019, the EU took steps towards broadening its engagement with Thailand, including towards the resumption of negotiations on a comprehensive FTA.

Thailand has been a member of the WTO since the latter's creation in 1995.

Trade picture

• In 2023, total bilateral trade in goods between the EU and Thailand amounted to €40.2 billion.
• The EU is Thailand’s fourth-largest trade partner (after China, the US and Japan), accounting for 7.1% of the country’s total trade. Thailand is the EU’s 28 th largest trading partner worldwide.
• Thailand exported goods worth €25.2 billion to the EU in 2023. Key exports from Thailand are machinery, electronics, and transport equipment, as well as miscellaneous manufactured articles, and food products.
• The EU exported goods worth €15 billion to Thailand in 2023. Key EU exports to Thailand are machinery and transport equipment, chemicals and related products, and manufactured goods.
• Thailand is one of the most important destinations of European investments within ASEAN, with €29.2 billion of outward stocks. The EU is the second-largest investor in Thailand after Japan.

The EU and Thailand

Thailand and the EU have negotiated a Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA), which provides a comprehensive framework for EU-Thailand relations and will open up wide opportunities to develop cooperation. The overall EU approach to bilateral relations with Thailand is set in the Council Conclusions of 2019. The PCA was signed in December 2022.

Thailand and ASEAN

Thailand is one of the 10 members of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), the second largest economy in the region in terms of GDP (17%) and the EU’s fourth largest trading partner in ASEAN.

Trading with Thailand

• Importing into the EU from Thailand
  • EU trade defence measures on imports from Thailand
  • Trade defence measures in force in Thailand