Thailand’s manufacturing production index (MPI) grew 6.83 percent to 102.59 in December from a year earlier, with full-year industrial output growth of 5.93 percent, the Office of Industrial Economics (OIE) said Monday.
Supporting factors include a slowdown in the spread of COVID-19 infections in the industrial sector. This was reflected in the labor index, which increased for the second consecutive month, adding 2.2 percent to its December reading. Also, the government has gradually eased COVID-19 restrictions, including reopening the country. As a result of this, economic activity continued to improve and led to a steady recovery of domestic demand. This can be seen in the oil industry, which expanded for the third straight month.
Meanwhile, December’s capacity utilization rate (CapU) has risen to 66.3 percent from 65.83 percent in November. This lifts the CapU for the year 2021 to 63.73 percent.
In 2022, the OIE forecast full-year factory output to expand by 4.0-5.0 percent, while GDP growth in the Thai industrial sector is estimated at 2.5-3.5 percent.
