ADB Revises Cambodia’s Economic Growth Forecast for 2025 and 2026

• 6 October 2025
• Local News
• 1718 Views

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has officially revised its economic growth forecast for Cambodia, lowering expectations from 6.1% to 4.9% for 2025 and from 6.2% to 5.0% for 2026. This update comes following the release of the ADB’s latest economic report.

The ADB attributes this slowdown to a combination of geopolitical tensions with neighboring Thailand and concerns about the uncertainty in the US export market. Nonetheless, the bank remains optimistic about sustained growth through 2026, fueled by continued industrial expansion and robust foreign direct investment inflows. Inflation rates are projected to stabilize at an average of 2.0% for both 2025 and 2026.

The industrial sector is expected to be the backbone of Cambodia’s economy, with notable growth in exports of clothing, footwear, and travel goods, which saw a remarkable year-on-year increase of 22.2% in the first half of 2025. Conversely, the services sector is expected to experience slower growth at 2.8% in 2025 and 2.6% in 2026. A revival in tourism is also on the horizon, particularly with rising numbers of tourists from the People’s Republic of China anticipated in the first half of 2025. The agricultural sector, on the other hand, is projected to see a modest growth of around 1.1% for both 2025 and 2026.

The updated forecasts have also been echoed by various institutions, including the Cambodian government, the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the National Bank of Cambodia, the World Bank, and the ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO). (Read more, more and more)

Earlier this year, in April 2025, the ADB had expressed confidence in Cambodia’s steady economic growth trajectory, driven particularly by external demand for manufactured goods and the anticipated recovery of the tourism sector. (Read more)

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