# Thailand's construction growth fell to 0.1% while private investment hit a 54-quarter high

> NESDC's national accounts of 17 August put construction sector growth at 0.1% for April–June 2026, down from 6.2% in the first quarter. Private construction grew 1.1%, held back by slower residential and non-residential building, while private investment rose 13.4% on machinery. What the split says about the building pipeline, and what it does not establish about Phuket.

Thai companies spent heavily in the second quarter of 2026 and spent very little of it on buildings. The Office of the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC) released the quarter's national accounts on 17 August 2026. Construction output grew 0.1% year on year, against 6.2% in the first quarter. Private investment grew 13.4% over the same three months, which NESDC records as the strongest reading in 54 quarters.

The money went into machinery. For anyone weighing an off-plan purchase, the number that matters is the one that stalled.

## What the release says

NESDC reports construction twice: once as a production sector, once as a line inside investment. Both slowed.

From the release of 17 August 2026, covering April to June 2026:

- Construction sector output: **+0.1%** year on year, against +6.2% in the first quarter
- Public construction: **−0.3%**, against +8.3%
- Private construction: **+1.1%**, against +3.0%
- Construction investment: **+1.1%**, against +3.0%
- Total investment: **+9.1%**, against +9.9%
- Private investment: **+13.4%**, against +10.1%
- Investment in machinery and equipment: **+16.6%**, against +11.5%
- Public investment: **−1.6%**, against +9.4%, the first contraction in three quarters

NESDC attributes the private-construction slowdown to weaker growth in residential and non-residential building, with factory construction falling for the first time in 13 quarters.

```chart
type: trend
title: Construction sector output, year on year
unit: "%"
hue: amber
source: NESDC national accounts, released 17 August 2026
data:
  "Q4 2025": 11.2
  "Q1 2026": 6.2
  "Q2 2026": 0.1
```

Two quarters ago the sector was growing at double digits. It now sits a tenth of a percentage point above standing still.

## Where the money went instead

The same quarter that stalled construction produced the strongest private investment reading since the fourth quarter of 2012. Machinery and equipment carried it, growing 16.6%, with office equipment leading and industrial machinery and vehicles adding to it.

```chart
type: comparison
title: Q1 against Q2 2026, year-on-year growth
hue: emerald
highlight: 1
source: NESDC national accounts, released 17 August 2026
columns: [Q1 2026, Q2 2026]
rows:
  - metric: Private investment
    values: ["+10.1%", "+13.4%"]
  - metric: Machinery and equipment
    values: ["+11.5%", "+16.6%"]
  - metric: Construction investment
    values: ["+3.0%", "+1.1%"]
  - metric: Construction sector output
    values: ["+6.2%", "+0.1%"]
  - metric: Public construction
    values: ["+8.3%", "−0.3%"]
```

The wider economy slowed alongside it. GDP grew 1.9% year on year, down from 2.8%, and contracted 0.2% against the first quarter once adjusted for season. NESDC put its full-year 2026 forecast at a range of 2.0–2.5%, with a midpoint of 2.2%.

## Who this reaches

Developers and contractors feel it first. A sector growing at 0.1% is one where new sites open slowly and existing crews finish what they started. Public work gave no cover this quarter either: state construction fell 0.3% after growing 8.3%.

Buyers meet the same number later, through completion dates rather than launch announcements. A building started in a slow quarter still needs its 18 to 36 months.

## What it means for Phuket

Houseviser reads the release this way. National construction data measures the whole country, and the country is mostly Bangkok mass-market housing, provincial estates, and industrial building. Phuket's pipeline runs on resort condominiums, branded residences, and villas sold largely to foreign buyers. Those two markets have moved apart before, and the national figure carries no information about which way Phuket moved this quarter.

What the release does establish is the background a Phuket project builds against. Contractor capacity, materials demand, and the cost of putting up a building are set nationally, and national demand for building work has flattened. A developer signing a construction contract this quarter negotiates in a softer market than one who signed in January.

The reading a buyer can act on is narrower than the headline. Ask a developer for the current construction stage and the contracted completion date, in writing, and compare both against the payment schedule. Our guide to [off-plan payment schedules in Phuket](/guide/off-plan-payment-schedules-phuket) sets out how those milestones are normally tied together, and [off-plan versus resale](/guide/off-plan-vs-resale-thailand) covers what a buyer gives up by waiting for a building that has not been finished.

## What remains open

NESDC publishes construction at national level only. Nothing in this release measures Phuket, and no provincial construction series was published alongside it.

The release also gives no split of residential construction between houses and condominiums, so the slowdown cannot be traced to a particular building type from this document.

One figure in the release sits awkwardly with its own quarters. NESDC reports first-half private construction at −2.0% while publishing quarterly readings of +3.0% and +1.1% for the two quarters that make up that half. The document does not explain the basis for the half-year figure.

For asking prices on the island itself, our [Phuket price data](/prices) and the [market report](/prices/report) track listing-side evidence, which is a different measurement from anything in the national accounts.