Thailand's exports rose for a second straight month in May, up 7.2% from a year earlier, the Commerce Ministry said on Friday, beating analysts' expectations.
The reading compared with a forecast 1.89% year-on-year rise in a Reuters poll, and followed April's 6.8% increase.
In the first five months of 2024, exports rose 2.6% from a year earlier. The ministry maintained its export growth target of 1% to 2% this year, after a fall of 1% in 2023.
Geopolitics had an impact on freight rates and trade, Poonpong Naiyanapakorn, head of the ministry's Trade Policy and Strategy Office, told a press conference, adding that the outlook was positive.
May imports fell 1.7% from a year earlier, against a fall of 0.47% forecast in the poll.
Thailand recorded a trade surplus of US$0.66 billion in May, compared with a forecast deficit of $0.84 billion.