The Phnom Penh Post: Despite continued global political and economic uncertainty over the past several years, Cambodia’s economy has shown resilience, achieving nearly 6% growth in the first half of 2025, according to the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC).
The “NBC’s First Half 2025 Report and Outlook for the Second Half of the Year”, released recently, noted that the global economy remains affected by increasing uncertainty due to rising protectionist policies, escalating armed conflicts and geopolitical tensions.
Despite this, Cambodia’s economy continued to perform well, with a growth rate of approximately 5.9% in the first half of the year, supported by growth in the manufacturing, tourism and agriculture sectors. Meanwhile, the construction and real estate sectors remained weak.
The report elaborated that the manufacturing sector continued to play a crucial role in supporting Cambodia’s economic growth, with a 9.5% increase — largely driven by a surge in exports to the US ahead of new tariff policies. Within this, the garment manufacturing sub-sector grew by 10.4%, while non-garment manufacturing expanded by 8.5%.
The tourism sector also continued its upward trend, reflected in rising numbers of both international and domestic tourists. This growth has been supported by major infrastructure development, increased direct flight connections with various countries and the organisation of large-scale events to attract visitors.
International tourism revenue in the first half of 2025 was estimated at around $1.9 billion, an increase of 9.1% compared to the first half of 2024.
Meanwhile, the agriculture sector grew by 1.2%, supported by crop production and fisheries.
The NBC warned that the construction sector remained subdued, with growth at only 0.7%, driven mainly by activity in industrial and private construction, while public construction projects grew at a slower pace. Real estate grew by only 0.8%, due to falling property prices, reduced housing loan volumes and a decline in foreign direct investment in the sector.
“Overall, despite ongoing global economic uncertainty driven by war, geopolitical tensions and protectionist trends, Cambodia’s economy remained resilient and continued to record solid growth in the first half of 2025. Inflation remained low and manageable, with stable exchange rates between the riel and the US dollar,” said the NBC.
Looking ahead to the second half of 2025, it forecast that the Kingdom’s economic growth could slow due to increasing external risks, especially protectionist trends and global and regional geopolitical tensions, which could impact exports, foreign direct investment and tourism.
Data from the General Department of Customs and Excise (GDCE) showed that in the first half of 2025, Cambodia’s total international trade volume reached $30.57 billion — an increase of 17.2% compared to $26.09 billion in the first half of 2024. Of this, exports totalled $14.29 billion (up 16.2%), while imports reached $16.28 billion (up 18%).
Cambodia’s trade deficit in the first half of 2025 stood at approximately $1.98 billion — up from $1.5 billion in the first half of 2024.
Source: https://www.phnompenhpost.com
