section_path: Demographics
section_name: Demographics
paragraph_text: Demographics
  
  Ethnic groupsof Thailand (2015 estimate by The World Factbook)
  
  Thailand has an estimated population of 65,975,198 as of July 2024; Thailand's first census in 1909 found the population to be 8.2 million. Thailand's population is largely rural, concentrated in the rice-growing areas of the central, northeastern and northern regions. About 44.2% of Thailand's population lived in urban areas as of 2010, slowly increasing from 29.4% in the 1990 census and 31.1% in the 2000 census.
  
  Thailand's government-sponsored family planning program resulted in a dramatic decline in population growth from 3.1% in 1960 to around 0.4% today. In 1970, an average of 5.7 people lived in a Thai household; in 2022, the average Thai household size was 3 people. Now Thailand is an aged society, with more than 20% of its population aged over 60, and has low birth rate, posing economic challenges.