Thailand GDP Q1 2026 +2.8%

According to preliminary estimates from the Thailand’s Ministry of Commerce, Thailand’s economy registered a year-on-year growth of 2.8 per cent in the first quarter of 2026, an increase from the 2.5 per cent growth recorded in the previous quarter.

On a seasonally-adjusted quarter-on-quarter basis, the economy expanded by 0.7 per cent, slowing from the 1.9 per cent rise in the fourth quarter of 2025.

During the first quarter of 2026, the manufacturing sector expanded by 3.0 per cent year-on-year, an improvement from the 2.1 per cent performance achieved over the previous quarter. The main growth driver is an output increase in the automotive, electronics and food processing cluster. At the same time, the construction sector grew by 5.4 per cent, while the wholesale and retail trade and transportation and storage sectors collectively expanded by 4.8 per cent. Information and communications, finance and insurance and professional services sectors rose by 3.2 per cent as a group, a slight increase from the 3.0 per cent growth achieved over the previous quarter.

The National Economic and Social Development Council estimates Thailand’s real GDP growth rate at 2.0 per cent for 2026.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is a political and economic union of ten members, has 667 million people and a territory of 4.5 million Km2; is currently the third largest economy in Asia-Pacific and the fifth largest in the World. The ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) has a combined GDP of USD 4.2 trillion, according to estimates for 2025.