Thai Exports Up 17.6% in First Half, Reaching Nearly $200 Billion

The Thai government announced that exports in the first half of 2024 (January-June) increased by 17.6% year-on-year to reach $196.7418 billion. This aligns with the positive export trend previously indicated by Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul. Key drivers of this growth include technology and electronics products. Computers, electronic equipment, and their components saw a 47.9% increase, contributing 5.4 percentage points to overall export growth, with a value of $18.78193 billion. Facsimile machines, telephones, equipment, and their components also showed a remarkable surge of 169.0%, reaching $3.54737 billion. Other strong performers included machinery, agricultural machinery, transformers, and copper products. In the agricultural and food sector, fresh, chilled, frozen, and dried fruits increased by 16.3% to $4.02439 billion, while gems and jewelry rose by 19.8% to $14.16667 billion. Among major export markets, the United States remained the largest, with exports valued at $47.1446 billion in the first half, a 41.1% increase and accounting for 24.0% of total exports. China followed with $22.6451 billion (up 8.1%), Japan with $13.1861 billion (up 12.9%), India with $9.1521 billion (up 10.0%), and Singapore with $9.1327 billion (up 74.0%). The government views the strong export performance in the first half as a positive sign for the Thai economy, particularly highlighting the growth in technology, electronics, and digital economy-related products, which indicates opportunities for Thailand to play a role in modern industrial supply chains. The government plans to continue supporting new market development, maintaining existing markets, and enabling Thai businesses to leverage global supply chain shifts, aiming to maximize export revenues for domestic businesses, SMEs, and the overall Thai economy. In the first half of 2024, Thailand's total trade value reached $425.2277 billion, an increase of 27.8% year-on-year. Imports amounted to $228.4859 billion, up 38.0%, resulting in a trade deficit of $31.7440 billion. The government will closely monitor global economic and trade developments to maintain the competitiveness of Thai products and support continued export growth in the second half of the year. Source: INN News