Agriculture vs Wholesale and Retail: Companies and Margin 2026
In short
Wholesale and retail trade, the largest sector in Thailand, has 715,976 registered companies against agriculture's 19,259, a gap of 37 times. Agriculture still posts the fatter margin, 2.55 percent net profit on revenue versus 1.27 percent for wholesale and retail, nearly double. Wholesale and retail generates 48.3 percent of all reported revenue in Thailand while agriculture contributes just 0.61 percent. Returns flip the story though: wholesale and retail's return on equity, 3.23 percent, beats agriculture's 2.72 percent, and its return on assets, 2.06 percent, tops agriculture's 1.45 percent.
How do agriculture and wholesale and retail trade compare?
Wholesale and retail trade is Thailand's largest registered sector by a wide margin, counting 715,976 companies against agriculture's 19,259, according to the DBD registry (DBD, 2026). That works out to 37 times as many companies. Size does not carry over into margin. Agriculture keeps 2.55 baht of net profit for every 100 baht of revenue, a net margin of 2.55 percent. Wholesale and retail keeps just 1.27 percent, less than half that rate. The two sectors sit near opposite ends of the Thai economy. Agriculture is small in company count and fat on margin. Wholesale and retail is vast in company count and thin on margin. Neither trait predicts the other.
Margin favors agriculture, returns favor retail
- Agriculture net margin3
- Wholesale and retail net margin1
- Agriculture return on equity3
- Wholesale and retail return on equity3
- Agriculture return on assets1
- Wholesale and retail return on assets2
Figures in percent.
Agriculture wins on margin. Wholesale and retail wins on both return measures, because it turns its assets over far faster.
Agriculture vs wholesale and retail trade, side by side
| Metric | Agriculture | Wholesale and retail |
|---|---|---|
| Registered companies | 19,259 | 715,976 |
| Filed a financial statement | 12,067 | 424,646 |
| Filed data share of registered | 62.7% | 59.3% |
| Total revenue | 491.8 billion baht | 38.74 trillion baht |
| Total net profit | 12.52 billion baht | 493.83 billion baht |
| Average revenue per filed company | 42.0 million baht | 94.6 million baht |
| Average net profit per filed company | 1.04 million baht | 1.16 million baht |
| Average total assets per filed company | 71.8 million baht | 56.4 million baht |
| Net margin | 2.55% | 1.27% |
| Return on equity | 2.72% | 3.23% |
| Return on assets | 1.45% | 2.06% |
| Share of national revenue | 0.61% | 48.34% |
| Share of national registered companies | 0.97% | 35.98% |
| Top company by revenue | Cargill Meats, Thailand, 31.6 billion baht | Hua Seng Heng Commoditas, 5.56 trillion baht |
Company counts, size and profitability by sector, as of 17 Jul 2026.
Why the smaller sector earns the fatter margin, and the bigger one earns the better return
The explanation sits in how fast each sector turns its assets into sales. Divide average revenue per filed company by average assets per filed company and agriculture converts roughly 58 baht of revenue for every 100 baht of assets it holds. Wholesale and retail converts roughly 168 baht for every 100 baht of assets, close to three times as fast. A farm or a plantation ties up capital in land, livestock and long maturing crops before it sells anything. A trading company buys and resells inventory many times a year on a comparatively thin asset base. That speed is why wholesale and retail posts a lower net margin yet still edges out agriculture on both return on equity and return on assets. Margin measures profit per baht of sales. Return measures profit per baht of capital committed, and capital turns over at very different speeds across these two sectors. One caution belongs here too. Wholesale and retail's top company by revenue is Hua Seng Heng Commoditas, a bullion trading firm whose 5.56 trillion baht in reported revenue reflects the churn of buying and reselling gold rather than value added in the way a typical shop or distributor would report it. That single company's scale should not be read as typical of the sector's 715,976 members.
Definitions
- Net margin
- Net profit as a share of revenue. A net margin of 2.55 percent means 2.55 baht of profit for every 100 baht of revenue.
- Return on equity
- Net profit divided by shareholder equity across a section, an aggregate measure of profit earned per baht of owner capital, not the average of individual company ratios.
- Return on assets
- Net profit divided by total assets across a section, an aggregate measure of profit earned per baht of everything the section owns.
- Asset turnover
- Revenue divided by assets. It measures how many baht of sales a sector generates per baht of assets it holds in a year.
- Filed a financial statement
- A registered company that submitted a financial statement to the DBD for the period covered. Averages of revenue, profit and assets are computed only across companies that filed, since a company with no filing has no reported figure.
- TSIC section
- The top level of Thailand's industrial classification. Section A covers agriculture, forestry and fishing. Section G covers wholesale and retail trade and the repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles.
Assumptions
- Averages per company divide by companies that filed a financial statement, not by every registered company, since unfiled companies report no financial figures.
- Net margin, return on equity and return on assets are aggregate ratios computed from section totals, not averages of individual company ratios.
- Wholesale and retail's top company by revenue is a bullion trader whose turnover style revenue is not representative of the sector's other 715,975 companies.
- Both sections include companies of every size, from single owner shops and small farms to large distributors and agribusiness, so the aggregate ratios blend very different business models.
Methodology
Figures are drawn from the DBD registry's pre-aggregated section level table for TSIC section A, agriculture forestry and fishing, and section G, wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles, as of 17 July 2026. Registered companies counts every entity classified to the section. Average revenue, average net profit and average assets per company divide each section's total by the count of companies that filed a financial statement, not by every registered company, since an unfiled company contributes no financial figure. Net margin, return on equity and return on assets are aggregate ratios, total profit divided by total revenue, equity or assets across the section, not the average of individual company ratios. National shares divide each section's total by the whole economy's reported total across all sections.
How we verified this
- Company count ratio recomputed as 715,976 divided by 19,259 equals 37.18, confirming wholesale and retail has roughly 37 times as many registered companies as agriculture.
- Margin ratio recomputed as 2.546 percent divided by 1.275 percent equals 1.997, confirming agriculture's net margin nearly doubles wholesale and retail's.
- National revenue share recomputed as wholesale and retail's 38,739,274,707,312.97 baht divided by the national total of 80,146,498,562,463.62 baht equals 48.34 percent, and agriculture's 491,814,884,492.53 baht divided by the same total equals 0.61 percent.
- National company share recomputed as wholesale and retail's 715,976 divided by 1,989,709 registered companies equals 35.98 percent, and agriculture's 19,259 divided by the same total equals 0.97 percent.
- Returns recomputed directly from the section table: wholesale and retail's return on equity of 3.23 percent exceeds agriculture's 2.72 percent, and its return on assets of 2.06 percent exceeds agriculture's 1.45 percent, even though its net margin is lower.
- Asset turnover recomputed as average revenue per filed company divided by average assets per filed company: 41,981,638 divided by 71,805,600 equals 0.58 for agriculture, and 94,599,324 divided by 56,374,513 equals 1.68 for wholesale and retail, a gap of roughly 2.9 times.
References
- Department of Business Development. (2026). Registered juristic persons and financial statement aggregates. Ministry of Commerce, Thailand. https://www.dbd.go.th/
- Office of the National Economic and Social Development Council. (2026). Thai economic performance in Q4 of 2025 and the outlook for 2026. NESDC. https://www.nesdc.go.th/en/download/press-release-47/?ddl=99987
Frequently asked questions
How many more companies does wholesale and retail have than agriculture in Thailand?
715,976 against 19,259, a ratio of roughly 37 to 1, as of 17 July 2026.
Which sector has the higher profit margin, agriculture or wholesale and retail?
Agriculture, at a 2.55 percent net margin against wholesale and retail's 1.27 percent, nearly double.
If agriculture has the fatter margin, why does wholesale and retail earn a higher return on equity?
Because wholesale and retail turns its assets into sales roughly three times faster than agriculture does. A faster asset turnover offsets a thinner margin and still produces a higher return on the capital committed.
How much of Thailand's total company revenue comes from wholesale and retail trade?
48.34 percent, against 0.61 percent from agriculture, as of 17 July 2026.
Cite this page
Chatpong L. (2026). Agriculture vs Wholesale and Retail: Companies and Margin 2026. Max Data Insights. https://maxdatathailand.com/insights/agriculture-vs-wholesale-and-retail-in-thailand-2026
Data & corrections
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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.