Agriculture vs Mining and Quarrying in Thailand 2026
In short
Mining and quarrying posts a 14.03 percent net margin as of 17 July 2026, 5.51 times agriculture and forestry's 2.55 percent. The two sections book almost matched revenue, 448.87 billion baht against 491.81 billion baht, a gap of under nine percent. Mining runs on just 8,231 companies, 42.7 percent of agriculture's 19,259. Fewer firms, tighter capital, and a much bigger cut of every baht that comes in.
Which primary-sector companies earn more per baht of revenue?
Mining and quarrying does, by a wide margin. Section B keeps 14.03 percent of every baht of revenue as net profit, against 2.55 percent for section A, agriculture, forestry and fishing, a gap of 5.51 times (DBD, 2026). That gap holds even though the two sections book almost the same amount of money. Agriculture reports 491.81 billion baht in total revenue and mining reports 448.87 billion baht, a difference of just 42.94 billion baht, or under nine percent. What separates them is headcount. Agriculture spreads that revenue across 19,259 registered companies, while mining earns nearly as much through just 8,231, fewer than half as many. Mining also leads on return on equity, 7.92 percent against 2.72 percent, and on return on assets, 5.22 percent against 1.45 percent. Every profitability measure in the registry points the same direction. Concentrated capital in mining converts revenue into profit far more efficiently than the wide, fragmented base of Thai farms and fisheries.
Agriculture versus mining and quarrying, side by side
- Companies, thousands, agriculture19
- Companies, thousands, mining8
- Revenue, billion baht, agriculture492
- Revenue, billion baht, mining449
- Net margin, percent, agriculture3
- Net margin, percent, mining14
- Return on equity, percent, agriculture3
- Return on equity, percent, mining8
Figures in value shown per metric.
Agriculture leads narrowly on revenue and company count. Mining leads on every profitability ratio, by a wide margin.
Agriculture and mining and quarrying compared
| Metric | Agriculture, forestry and fishing, section A | Mining and quarrying, section B |
|---|---|---|
| Registered companies | 19,259 | 8,231 |
| Total revenue, baht | 491,814,884,492.53 | 448,874,025,175.37 |
| Total net profit, baht | 12,521,711,545.91 | 62,996,993,274.82 |
| Net margin | 2.55% | 14.03% |
| Return on equity | 2.72% | 7.92% |
| Return on assets | 1.45% | 5.22% |
| Average revenue per company, baht | 25,536,886 | 54,534,568 |
| Average net profit per company, baht | 650,175 | 7,653,626 |
| Companies active versus inactive | 10,729 active of 19,259 | 2,540 active of 8,231 |
| Top company by revenue | Cargill Meats (Thailand) Limited | PTT Exploration and Production Public Company Limited |
| Top company revenue, baht | 31,608,151,861 | 85,469,910,000 |
Section-level totals from the DBD registry, as of 17 Jul 2026.
Fewer survivors, bigger checks
Mining's profit edge comes with a survival cost. Of the 19,259 agriculture companies with a size band, 10,729 are currently active, a survival rate of 55.71 percent. Mining's active share is much lower, 2,540 of 8,231, or 30.86 percent. More than two in three registered mining and quarrying companies are now inactive. Mining is also more top heavy. PTT Exploration and Production alone reports 85.47 billion baht in revenue, 19.04 percent of the entire section's total. Agriculture's largest filer, Cargill Meats Thailand, accounts for just 6.43 percent of its section. A single petroleum producer moves mining's numbers roughly three times as much as a single meat producer moves agriculture's. Revenue growth over the last nine reported years also splits the two sections. Agriculture's revenue rose from 186.86 billion baht in the 2016 statement year to 367.20 billion baht in 2025, up 96.52 percent, a compound annual growth rate of 7.80 percent. Mining grew more slowly over the same span, from 260.81 billion baht to 419.95 billion baht, up 61.02 percent, a compound annual growth rate of 5.44 percent. Agriculture is the section adding revenue faster. It is also the section where that growth buys far less profit.
Why this pairing matters
National accounts tell a different story from the corporate registry, and the gap is the point. NESDC estimates agriculture at roughly 6.2 percent of Thailand's gross domestic product in the fourth quarter of 2025, against roughly 1.8 percent for mining and quarrying, a gap of more than three times in the economy at large (NESDC, 2025). Inside the DBD registry of filed companies, that gap almost disappears. The two sections book nearly matched revenue, and mining converts far more of it into profit with a fraction of the company count. Read together, the two facts say something specific about Thai land and resource use. Agriculture output is dominated by household farms and small operators that never register as juristic persons, so the registry only sees a slice of the sector, and that slice runs thin on margin. Mining output concentrates inside a small number of large, capital-heavy corporate filers, so the registry captures more of the sector's real economics, and what it captures is far more profitable per baht. A lender or an investor comparing the two primary sectors on registry numbers alone would badly overstate how alike they are, and would completely miss why one keeps five times more of every baht it earns.
Definitions
- Net margin
- Total net profit for a section divided by total revenue for that section, expressed as a percentage. It measures how much of each baht of sales is kept as profit.
- Return on equity
- Total net profit divided by total shareholder equity for a section, a measure of how efficiently a sector turns owner capital into profit.
- Return on assets
- Total net profit divided by total assets for a section, a measure of how efficiently a sector turns its asset base into profit.
- Survival rate
- The share of registered companies in a section currently marked active rather than inactive or dormant in the registry's size-banded company base.
- TSIC section
- One of the 21 lettered top-level categories in the Thailand Standard Industrial Classification, the same letter scheme used by DBD to group companies by main activity.
- Compound annual growth rate
- The steady yearly growth rate that would carry a starting value to an ending value over a given number of years, smoothing out year to year swings.
- Aggregate margin
- A margin computed from the sum of every company's revenue and profit in a group, rather than the average of each company's own margin.
Assumptions
- Only companies that filed a financial statement contribute to revenue, profit, margin, return on equity and return on assets figures. Average revenue and average profit per company use all registered companies in the section as the denominator, including non filers.
- Mining and quarrying's aggregate margin is lifted by a small number of very large petroleum and mineral producers, so the section figure overstates the typical small quarry operator's margin.
- Growth figures compare the 2016 and 2025 statement years as endpoints rather than tracking every year in between, following the data guide's caution against single-year revenue spikes.
- Section-level figures are aggregates, not averages of individual company ratios, so a handful of very large companies can move the whole section number.
Methodology
Figures are aggregate totals for TSIC section A, agriculture forestry and fishing, and section B, mining and quarrying, drawn from the DBD registry's section-level financial aggregates as of 17 July 2026. Net margin, return on equity and return on assets are total section net profit divided by total section revenue, equity or assets among companies that filed a financial statement, not an average of individual company ratios. Average revenue and average net profit per company divide section totals by all registered companies in that size-banded section, including companies that did not file a statement. Active and inactive counts and the resulting survival rate are drawn from the same size-banded company base. Revenue growth uses the 2016 and 2025 statement years, the earliest and latest complete years in the nine-year window queried, and excludes the still-filing 2026 statement year. Combined shares of the national total use the verified national totals of 80,146,498,562,463.62 baht in reported revenue and 1,986,489 companies with a classified industry section, both as of 17 July 2026.
How we verified this
- Company count ratio recomputed as 19259 divided by 8231 equals 2.34, and 8231 divided by 19259 equals 0.4274, confirming mining runs 42.7 percent of agriculture's headcount.
- Revenue gap recomputed as 448874025175.37 divided by 491814884492.53 equals 0.9127, confirming mining's revenue is 91.3 percent of agriculture's, a gap under nine percent.
- Net margin ratio recomputed as 14.03444836 divided by 2.54602127 equals 5.512, confirming mining's margin is 5.51 times agriculture's.
- Return on equity ratio recomputed as 7.91838862 divided by 2.72265252 equals 2.908, and return on assets as 5.22492908 divided by 1.44536672 equals 3.615.
- Average revenue per company recomputed as total_revenue divided by entity_count for each section, giving 25,536,886 baht for agriculture and 54,534,568 baht for mining, a ratio of 2.14. Average net profit per company gives 650,175 baht and 7,653,626 baht, a ratio of 11.77.
- Survival rate recomputed as active_count divided by total_count, where total_count is active_count plus inactive_count summed across every 5-digit TSIC code inside each section, giving 10729 divided by 19259 equals 0.5571 for agriculture and 2540 divided by 8231 equals 0.3086 for mining.
- Top-filer revenue share recomputed as 31608151861 divided by 491814884492.53 for agriculture, equals 0.0643, and 85469910000 divided by 448874025175.37 for mining, equals 0.1904.
- Combined revenue share of the national total recomputed as the sum of 491814884492.53 and 448874025175.37, divided by 80146498562463.62, equals 0.0117. Combined company share of classified companies recomputed as the sum of 19259 and 8231, divided by 1986489, equals 0.0138.
- Nine-year revenue growth recomputed from statement-year endpoints: agriculture rose from 186856458157.69 to 367202601779.80, a 96.52 percent gain and a 7.80 percent compound annual growth rate over 9 years. Mining rose from 260812595850.93 to 419948844522.92, a 61.02 percent gain and a 5.44 percent compound annual growth rate.
References
- Department of Business Development. (2026). Registered juristic persons and financial statement aggregates. Ministry of Commerce, Thailand. https://www.dbd.go.th/
- National Economic and Social Development Council. (2025). Thai economic performance in Q4 of 2025 and the outlook for 2026. https://www.nesdc.go.th/en/download/press-release-47/?ddl=99987
Frequently asked questions
Which is more profitable in Thailand, agriculture or mining and quarrying?
Mining and quarrying, with a net margin of 14.03 percent against agriculture's 2.55 percent, 5.51 times higher.
Does agriculture or mining have more registered companies in Thailand?
Agriculture, with 19,259 registered companies against mining's 8,231, more than double the headcount.
Do agriculture and mining earn similar revenue in Thailand?
Yes, closely. Agriculture reports 491.81 billion baht against mining's 448.87 billion baht, a gap of under nine percent, despite mining running fewer than half as many companies.
Why does mining and quarrying earn a much higher margin than agriculture?
Mining concentrates revenue inside a small number of large, capital-intensive filers such as PTT Exploration and Production, which holds 19.04 percent of the section's revenue alone, while agriculture spreads thinner margins across many more, smaller and more volatile filers.
Cite this page
Chatpong L. (2026). Agriculture vs Mining and Quarrying in Thailand 2026. Max Data Insights. https://maxdatathailand.com/insights/agriculture-vs-mining-and-quarrying-in-thailand-2026
Data & corrections
Download the data (CSV)Spot something off, or want to ask about the data? Email insights@maxsolutions.co.th. We publish corrections.
Written by
Chatpong L.Founder, Max Data, Max Solutions Co., Ltd.
Chatpong L. leads Max Data, a company-intelligence platform built on Thailand's official business registry. He writes about the structure of the Thai economy using primary registry data. His work covers company formation, industry concentration, and regional business activity.
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This page reports company-level and aggregate statistics only. It names no individuals and makes no claims about any person. Figures are provided for information and may be revised as source data updates.