BANGKOK — Thailand’s manufacturing production index dropped 0.91 percent in October from a year earlier, the industry ministry said on Wednesday, falling less than analysts’ expectations.
The figure compared with a forecast fall of 1.85 percent for October in a Reuters poll, and followed an annual drop of 3.51 percent in September.
Factory output for the first 10 months of 2024 contracted 1.63 percent from a year earlier, and the ministry forecast it would fall 1.6 percent for the full year.
Output has been weighed down by weaker car production and high household debt that has crimped domestic spending, the ministry said.
Car production in Thailand fell 25.13 percent in October from a year earlier, down for the 15th straight month, due to weak demand as banks have tightened autos lending, according to the Federation of Thai Industries.
However, the industry ministry expects factory output to rise 1.5 percent to 2.5 percent next year.
“Hopefully, production will increase following higher imports,” Passakorn Chairat, director general of the Office of Industrial Economics, told a press conference.
Thailand’s imports rose 15.9 percent in October from a year earlier while exports increased 14.6 percent annually. Imported materials are assembled into goods that are shipped out again.
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