The manufacturing production index (MPI) dropped a smaller-than-expected 2.75% in September from a year earlier due mainly to lower production of cars, petroleum and sugar amid the coronavirus pandemic, the industry ministry said on Wednesday.
That compares with a forecast for a decline of 4.71% in a Reuters poll, and against August's revised contraction of 9.05%.
Capacity utilisation in September was 63.07% after August's revised 60.86%.
The ministry has forecast the MPI index will fall by 8%-9% this year. Industrial goods account for 80% of total exports, a key driver of Thai growth.