Thailand’s December exports rise 8.7% y/y, above forecast

THAILAND’S customs-cleared exports rose 8.7 per cent in December from a year earlier, the commerce ministry said on Thursday, slightly higher than analysts’ forecasts.

The reading compared with a forecast 8.15 per cent increase year-on-year for December in a Reuters poll, and followed November’s 8.2 per cent rise. The ministry is maintaining its export growth target of 2 per cent to 3 per cent for 2025.

Exports, a key driver of South-east Asia’s second-largest economy, increased 5.4 per cent in 2024 to a record US$301 billion, the ministry said in a statement.
Imports rose 14.9 per cent in December from a year earlier, above a forecast rise of 13.65 per cent. That led to a trade deficit of US$10.6 million in December, compared with a forecast surplus of US$290 million.

In 2024, imports rose 6.3 per cent from 2023, with a trade deficit at US$6.3 billion.

Rice export volumes dropped 7.1 per cent in December from a year earlier, but rose 13.4 per cent to 9.95 million metric tons in the whole of 2024.
Thailand, the world’s biggest rice exporter after India, expects rice shipments to drop to about 7.5 million metric tons in 2025 due to more competition from India and less demand from Indonesia, according to the Thai Rice Exporters Association. REUTERS