BANGKOK: Thailand’s customs-based exports rose 4.9% in November from a year earlier, the commerce ministry said on Monday, confirming customs department data.

The earlier data showed imports rose 10.1% year-on-year in November, for a trade deficit of $2.4 billion.

Export growth was less than the 6.3% rise forecast in a Reuters poll.

Japan’s exports fall for first time in three months as China shipments sag

Exports, a key driver of Thailand’s economy, were helped by higher shipments of rice, which rose 41.8% in November to 1 million tons, the commerce ministry said.

Shipments to the United States rose 17.5% and those to Japan increased 4.3%, while exports to China fell 3.9%, it said in a statement.

January-November exports declined 1.5% from the same period last year while imports dropped 3.8%, and the trade deficit stood at $6.2 billion.