Thailand Imports Rise Less than Expected

Thailand’s imports rose 36.7% year-on-year to USD 38.40 billion in July 2026, easing from a 50.3% surge in the previous month that marked the fastest increase since June 2021. The latest figure came in below market expectations of 42.2%, underscoring waning policy support for household demand and capital outlays. Still, purchases grew across all major categories: fuel (54.4%), raw materials and intermediate goods (41.1%), capital goods (39.0%), other goods (35.6%), transport equipment (20.1%), (22.2%), and consumer goods (4.0%). By commodity, imports rose for most components, including circuit boards (161.9%), machinery and components (59.7%), computers (71.1%), crude oil (68.0%), natural gas (56.6%), other metal ores and scrap (31.8%), chemicals (23.4%), iron and steel (6.1%), and electrical machinery (0.7%). In contrast, purchases of jewelry and gold fell 27.4%. In the first seven months of 2026, total imports climbed 37.8% from the same period in 2025 to USD 266.9 billion.

Thailand’s imports surged 50.3% yoy to USD 41.19 billion in June 2026, sharply accelerating from a 35.1% growth in the prior month and easily topping market forecasts of 35.8%. It was the fastest pace of purchases since June 2021, boosted by robust domestic demand and government measures to spur consumer spending and capital investment despite the impact of the Middle East war. Purchases grew across all major categories: raw materials and intermediate goods (71.2%), capital goods (42.7%), transport equipment (41.2%), fuel (39.5%), other products (22.2%), and consumer goods (12.3%). By commodity, imports rose across the board, driven by circuit boards (139.7%), machinery and components (64.1%), crude oil (56.7%), plants (56.0%), other metal ores and scrap (54.3%), computers (52.8%), chemicals (46.5%), iron and steel (19.7%), electrical machinery (13.6%), and jewelry and gold (3.7%). In the first half of 2026, total imports climbed 38.0% from the same period in 2025 to USD 228.5 billion.

Thailand’s imports rose 35.1% yoy to USD 40.04 billion in May 2026, slowing from a 45.0% surge in the prior month. The latest result was in line with market expectations of 35%, supported by resilient household demand and policy support aimed at boosting spending and capital outlays despite supply chain and trade uncertainties stemming from the conflict in the Middle East. Purchases grew for most components, including fuel (94.6%), raw materials, semi-finished products (34.4%), other products (26.8%), capital goods (24.2%), transport equipment (15.0%), and consumer goods (9.6%). By commodity, imports rose for crude oil (121.5%), circuit boards (121.5%), natural gas (85.4%), machinery & components (67.4%), other metal ores, scrap metal (34.7%), chemicals (33.8%), electrical machinery (6.3%), and jewelry, gold (3.7%). In contrast, purchases fell for computers (-6.7%) and iron and steel (-0.5%). In the first five months of the year, imports jumped 35.6% to USD 187.3 billion.