Thailand's annual inflation rate fell to 0.52 percent in August 2019 from 0.98 percent in July and well below market expectations of 0.85 percent. This was the lowest inflation rate since January, with food inflation hitting its lowest in four months (2.6% vs 3.5% in July). In addition, prices fell for both transport & communication (-2.2 percent vs -1.3 percent) and apparel & footwear (-0.1% vs flat reading). In contrast, inflation was unchanged for housing & furnishing (at 0.3 percent), while cost rose slightly faster for recreation & education (0.8% vs 0.7%). For 2019, the central bank expects headline inflation to be between 0.8-0.9% and compared with the Bank of Thailand's estimate of 1.0%. Core consumer prices, which exclude raw food and energy, rose 0.49 percent, above estimates of 0.44 percent. It marked the highest figure in three months. On a monthly basis, consumer prices fell 0.19 percent, after a 0.06 percent gain in July. Inflation Rate in Thailand averaged 4.08 percent from 1977 until 2019, 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 0.80 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 1.10 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.