Exports for November rose over 10% with value jumping in excess of US$18.9 billion, the Trade Policy and Strategy Office says.
Ms Pimchanok Wonkoporn, deputy director of the Trade Policy and Strategy Office with the Ministry of Commerce, said export statistics for November 2016 was in excess of US$18.9 billion, representing a 10.19% growth compared to the same period the previous year.
Exports figures taken from the same period last year showed a contraction of 4%, thus making the latest export figures the highest degree of growth in a 9 month period. she said.
Significantly, this also represents the highest degree of export growth in the entire world, she said.
She attributed the growth to the improving global economic outlook most, particularly for exports to Thailand’s major markets such as the US which grew by 10%, Japan which grew by 22% and Europe which grew by 13%.
This has also been helped in no small measure by the rise in the country’s gold exports which has grown by a staggering 72%, she added.
As for total export figures collected for the first 11 months of this year, this still shows a contraction of 0.05% which comparatively is still much better than the average global export figures which saw a 4% contraction.
As such, she said the office estimated that total national exports growth for the entire year will stand at between minus 0.1% to plus 0.2%.
Export figures for the remaining month will be critical in determining total exports for the entire year.
However she stated that if at worst the country’s exports for December amount to only US$17.619 billion, this will still allow the country’s exports to grow for the first time in 4 years by 0.2%.
Estimates for the coming year on the other hand shows great promising as export growth of between 2.5 – 3% can be expected due to the continued recovery of the global economy, she added.
