PHNOM PENH (XINHUA) – Cambodia’s GDP per capita is forecast to hit USD2,071 in 2024, up from some USD1,917 in 2023, said a report from its Ministry of Economy and Finance on Saturday.
Thanks to garment exports, tourism, construction, and agriculture, the kingdom’s economy is predicted to grow 6.6 per cent next year, up from around 5.6 per cent this year, the report said.
The Southeast Asian country has been classified as a lower middle-income economy since 2015.
Speaking at a get-together with thousands of garment factory workers in Phnom Penh on Saturday, Prime Minister Hun Manet said the country “targets an upper middle-income status by 2030 and a high-income status by 2050”.
Upper middle-income economies are defined by a GDP per capita between USD4,466 and USD13,845, while high-income economies have a GDP per capita of 13,846 dollars or more, according to the World Bank’s classifications.
Meanwhile, Hun Manet said the country’s poverty rate had remarkably dropped from 33.8 per cent to 17.8 per cent over the 10-year period between 2009 and 2019, with almost two million Cambodians escaping poverty.
Cambodia has a population of approximately 17 million. People living below the poverty line are defined by an income of less than USD2.7 per day, according to the World Bank.
