Bangkok was the worst economic performer last year among 300 cities worldwide ranked by the Brookings Institution and JPMorgan Chase, according to a report out yesterday.
A worker at a condominium construction site on Sukhumvit Road in Bangkok. Frequent political unrest last year damaged Thailand's capital in terms of economic performance as ranked by global financial companies. PATIPAT JANTHONG
The Rank Economic Performance 2013-14 report rated the country, city, real GDP, employment growth and per capita growth from 2013-14.
The poor ranking is the result of the political turmoil that led to the overthrow of the Yingluck Shinawatra government by the May 22 military coup last year.
Assoc Prof Somprawin Manprasert, associate dean of Chulalongkorn University's economics faculty, said the ranking was a temporary reflection of last year's political unrest and Bangkok's economic performance was expected to improve given the resumed political stability.
Tim Leelahaphan, an economist at Maybank Kim Eng Securities (Thailand), said Bangkok's ranking indicated how domestic political problems remained unsolved.
He suggested this year's political situation could be akin to the unstable conditions in 2013 when political problems started to intensify in the second half and the economy took a blow.
The ranking also reflects regional investors' concerns about Thailand's political uncertainty, as they consider domestic politics to be the main downside risk for their investments, said Mr Tim.
He said investors regarded Indonesia and the Philippines as having stronger fundamentals due to their political stability and superior GDP growth rates.
Economic growth is forecast at 4% this year, driven mainly by domestic consumption as opposed to investment projects that have not yet been launched, but the risk of downgrading the projection is higher than an upgrade due to political risks, Mr Tim said.
Meanwhile, Malaysia was the top performer in the economic rankings among the 10 Asean members, with Kuala Lumpur ranked 19th and Georgetown 47th.
They were followed by Ho Chi Minh City at 23, Jakarta at 34, Singapore at 61 and Manila at 139.
The Chinese territory of Macau was the top-ranked city, while many Chinese and Turkish cities performed well in the rankings.
Macau, which is known for its more than 30 casinos, outperformed the rest of the world's major cities economically last year.
Cities in the developing world, especially China, performed well, with 27 Chinese cities among the 50 top performers.
Many Chinese cities enjoyed strong growth as a result of the government's wealth distribution policy.
Cities in wealthy, developed countries tended to lag behind, although some US and British cities showed improvement in economic performance.
Though most of the cities surveyed have recovered from the recent recession, 65% of European and 57% of North American cities have not, according to the study, which ranks cities by growth in employment and in economic output per person.
Last year, the 18 cities that specialised in producing commodities such as oil registered the highest rates of growth in economic output per person (2.6%) and employment (1.9%).
But next year's rankings may be different.
Oil prices have plunged to less than US$48 a barrel from $107 a barrel last June, jeopardising the prospects of cities that had been riding the energy boom.
Four Turkish cities made the top 10 last year despite political unrest.
This was thanks to the country's solid macroeconomic policies and its strategic moves in tapping benefits from its location at the boundary between Europe and Asia, the report said.
