Depth report

　　

Macroeconomic situation in 2022

According to the statistics of the Cambodian government, the country's GDP in 2022 reached 29.597 billion U.S. dollars, up 5.4 percent year on year, and its per capita GDP was 1,785 U.S. dollars. Industry, services and agriculture grew by 9%, 4.3% and 0.7%, respectively. Annual inflation is running at 5%. The dollar stayed within the range of 4,065 against the real. Foreign exchange reserves amounted to US $21.268 billion, which could cover 7.7 months of imports. The broad money supply (M2) was 17,196.21 trillion riels, up 8.3% year on year.

1. The financial sector. The national budget surplus for the year was 4,087 billion riel, or about 1.022 billion US dollars. Among them, the budget implementation revenue was 26,192.3 billion riel, about $6.548 billion, up 23.5% year on year; The budget implementation expenditure was 22,105.3 billion riel, or about 5.526 billion US dollars, representing a year-on-year increase or decrease of 3.6 percent.

2. Agriculture. The rice planting area reached 3.4 million hectares, a decrease of 149,552 hectares and 4.21 percent compared with 2021, including 640,000 hectares of dry season rice and 2.76 million hectares of rainy season rice. The annual rice output was 11.62 million tons, 4.77% less than the previous year, including 2.91 million tons of rice in the dry season and 8.71 million tons of rice in the rainy season. Cambodia planted 1,574,331 hectares of cash crops, with a harvestable area of 1,417,261 hectares and an output of 18,668,106 tons, 2.56 percent lower than the previous year.

In addition, the annual rice export of 637,004 tons, up 3.23% year on year, was exported to 56 countries and regions, mainly China (288,830 tons, down 6.74% year on year), EU 22 countries (204,323 tons, up 31.17% year on year), ASEAN 4 countries (Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore and Vietnam), 64,733 tons) and 79,118 tons from 29 other countries. Currently, there are 61 rice export companies.

(3) The field of architecture. A total of 4,276 construction projects were approved during the year, down 27 year-on-year, with a floor area of 7,289,800 square meters, and investment of 2,972 billion US dollars, down 43.92% and 344.27% respectively. Among them, 226 construction projects were approved by the ministry, down 162 year-on-year, with a floor area of 5.659 million square meters and an investment of 2.359 billion US dollars, down 46.7% and 44.09% respectively year-on-year. A total of 4,050 construction projects were approved at the provincial level, an increase of 135 over the previous year, with a floor area of 1.630,800 square meters and an investment of $613 million, respectively, down 36.74% and 44.97%.

4. Tourism. According to a report by the Cambodian Ministry of Tourism, in 2022, the country received 2.2766 million foreign tourists, up 1,058.6% year on year, and the tourism revenue was US $1.415 billion, up 669% year on year, contributing about 3.6% to the GDP. The top five sources of tourists are: Thailand (853,376, up 942.7 percent year on year), Vietnam (463,995, up 1,997.6 percent year on year), China (106,875, up 133.5 percent year on year), the United States (93,386, up 1,329 percent year on year), and Laos (92,609, up 32,740.1 percent year on year). Among them, 791,600 came by air, a year-on-year increase of 693%; A total of 1.485 million people visited Cambodia by land and water, up 1,436.2 percent year on year. The three major international airports in Phnom Penh, Siem Reap and Sihanoukville provinces were important destinations for foreign tourist arrivals, with 609,667, 165,180 and 16,756 arrivals respectively, up 575.6 percent, 15,124 percent and 97.1 percent year-on-year.

(5) Investment fields. According to the report of the Cambodian Development Council, a total of 186 new investment projects and expanded investment projects were approved, up 10.1% year on year, and the investment was 4.033 billion US dollars, down 7.4% year on year. Among them, the agricultural sector was 152 million US dollars, up 13.15% year on year; (The investment outside special economic zones was $977 million, down 30.97 percent year on year; $588 million investment in special economic zones, down 22.19% year on year); Tourism sector $497 million, a year-on-year growth of 288.48%; $1.819 billion in infrastructure and other sectors, down 5.35% year-on-year. A total of 144,000 jobs have been created.

(6) Trade. According to the statistics of Cambodian Customs, the total import and export trade volume of Cambodia in 2022 was 52.425 billion US dollars, up 9.2% year on year. Among them, the export was 22.483 billion US dollars, up 16.4% year on year; Imports reached US $29.942 billion, up 4.3 percent year on year.

The main export commodities include readymade garments and related cloth products accessories, readymade garments and non-knitted fabric products accessories, electrical equipment and related products, leather goods and woolen ware, shoes and socks and related products, etc. The main commodities imported are petroleum and smelting products, knitted products, vehicles, machinery and equipment and solar panels and accessories, machinery and equipment and power equipment and accessories, plastic raw materials and plastic products and rubber products, etc.

(7) Industries and handicrafts. According to a report by Cambodia's Ministry of Industry, Technology and Innovation, there were 1,982 large factories in operation in 2022, 103 more than the previous year. The number of newly established large companies decreased by 23 to 186. 83 large enterprises were closed. A total of 1,026,671 jobs were created, up 4.05 percent year on year. A total of 1,229 small and medium-sized enterprises and handmade workshops were established, and 1,423 continued operations, creating 21,069 jobs. 490 closed and 5,885 jobs were lost. By the end of 2022, there were 43,997 industrial and handicraft enterprises in Cambodia, creating 451,024 jobs. Mainly involved in textile and clothing, food, beverage, wood processing, paper products and printing, chemical, rubber, plastics, metal production and processing and other industries. The investment in the industrial sector was US $16.691 billion, up 20.84% year on year. The investment destinations were mainly located in Phnom Penh City, Sihanoukville, Kandla, Sitgu, Zay Rieng and Kampot provinces.

(8) The field of mineral energy. According to the report of Cambodia's National Electricity Authority (EAC), the electricity supply for the year was 15.456 billion kilowatt hours, an increase of 18 percent year-on-year. Domestic electricity production reached 10.313 billion KWH, up 6.18% year on year, accounting for 66.73% of the country's electricity supply. Imported electricity reached 5.143 billion KWH, up 51.92 percent year on year, accounting for 33.27 percent of the country's electricity supply. In addition, cement output was 8.526,500 tons, down 4.7 percent year on year.

Macroeconomic Forecast for 2023

According to the government's forecast, the Cambodian economy will grow by 6.6 percent in 2023, with a GDP of 32.291 billion U.S. dollars and per capita GDP rising to 1,924 dollars. Annual inflation is running at 2.5%. The dollar stayed within the range of 4,065 against the real. Foreign exchange reserves amounted to US $22.149 billion, which could cover 7.6 months of imports. The industrial sector grew by 9.2 percent, the service sector by 6.6 percent, and the agricultural sector by 1.1 percent.