Thailand's manufacturing production index (MPI) in June contracted 5.24% from a year earlier as exports declined amid sluggish global demand, the Industry Ministry said on Thursday.
The figure compared with a forecast in a Reuters poll for a fall of 2.5% in June. Output shrank a revised 3.05% in May.
In the January-June period, the MPI declined 4.6% from a year earlier, the ministry said in a statement.
The ministry had earlier forecast factory output would show zero to 1% growth this year.
The output has been impacted by a global economic slowdown, although domestic consumption has increased due to strength in the tourism sector, the ministry said in its statement.
Industrial goods account for about 80% of total customs-based exports, which shrank for a ninth consecutive month in June, down by 6.4% from a year ago.