Thai Q4 GDP grew 1.4% y/y, lower than expectations

BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailands economic growth slowed more than expected in the fourth quarter of 2022, official data showed on Friday, as exports and manufacturing declined but a rebound in the tourism sector should continue to underpin the economic recovery.

Southeast Asias second-largest economy expanded 1.4% in the October-December period from a year earlier, data from the National Economic and Social Development Council showed.

Economists in a Reuters poll had expected gross domestic product (GDP) to expand 3.5% year-on-year in the December quarter after increasing a revised 4.6% in the previous three months.

On a quarterly basis, GDP contracted a seasonally adjusted 1.5% in October-December, missing expectations for a 0.5% rise.

(Reporting by Orathai Sriring, Kitiphong Thaichareon and Satawasin Staporncharnchai; Editing by Ed Davies)