The higher earnings were attributed to the rising turnover of leather and footwear, rubber, garment, computers, electronic products and spare parts, and in particular mobile phones.
In the first five months of the year, the department said the export value of leather and footwear to the EU rose 7.5 per cent, rubber increased 13.9 per cent, while the revenue of computers, electronic products and spare parts rose 78 per cent. Meanwhile, the export turnover of mobile phones skyrocketed 152 per cent.
Exports of electronic spare parts and mobile phones produced a combined trade surplus of some US$4 billion (Bt124 billion) to the EU.
However, experts warned that negative growth in major EU nations would hit imports.
The department said that over the last five years, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands, France, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland and Poland accounted for 90 per cent of the country’s total exports.
However, the department said, eight of these 10 major importers had negative economic growth in the first half of this year.