Thailand's annual inflation rate eased to a 16-month low of 0.36 percent in December 2018 from 0.94 percent in the previous month and far below market consensus of 1.0 percent. Food prices rose at a softer pace (0.9 percent vs 1 percent in November) while transport & communication costs fell (-0.6 percent vs 1.6 percent). At the same time, inflation was steady for both tobacco & alcoholic beverages (at 0.2 percent) and recreation & education (at 0.3 percent), while it picked up for: apparel & footwear (0.3 percent vs 0.2 percent); housing & furnishing (0.6 percent vs 0.5 percent); and medical & personal care (0.6 percent vs 0.4 percent). The core inflation rate, which excludes raw food and energy, was almost unchanged at 0.68 percent in December, also below market consensus of 0.75 percent. In 2018, the headline inflation rate was 1.07 percent, while the core rate was 0.71 percent. Inflation Rate in Thailand averaged 4.13 percent from 1977 until 2018, reaching an all time high of 24.56 percent in June of 1980 and a record low of -4.38 percent in July of 2009.
Inflation Rate in Thailand is expected to be 1.10 percent by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate Inflation Rate in Thailand to stand at 0.80 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the Thailand Inflation Rate is projected to trend around 2.20 percent in 2020, according to our econometric models.