Construction Companies in Thailand: Count and Survival 2026
In short
Thailand has 283,534 registered construction companies as of 2 July 2026, the second largest sector by count. That count is 14.3 percent of all classified firms. Building is a crowded trade with a thin cushion. Only 42.5 percent of construction companies are still active, the second weakest survival rate in the economy after mining. The sector reports a net profit margin of 1.95 percent. Return on equity sits at 2.15 percent. Scale here does not buy safety.
How big is construction, and how does it hold up?
Construction is the second largest sector in Thailand by company count, with 283,534 registered firms as of 2 July 2026 (DBD, 2026). That is 14.3 percent of the 1,986,489 companies sorted into an industry. Only wholesale and retail trade fields more. Size, though, is where the good news stops. Just 42.5 percent of these firms are still active. The national survival rate sits higher at 50.0 percent. That reading is the second weakest of any sector, beaten to the bottom only by mining at 30.9 percent. The money is thin too. Construction books 2.30 trillion baht of reported revenue. That haul is about 3.0 percent of the national total. Net profit lands at just 1.95 percent of revenue. Return on equity reaches 2.15 percent. A lot of companies chase a small pool of margin, and most do not last.
Company survival rate, construction against other sectors
- Human health and social work74
- Real estate62
- Professional, scientific and technical59
- Financial and insurance58
- Manufacturing47
- Wholesale and retail trade46
- Construction43
- Mining and quarrying31
Figures in percent of firms still active.
The national survival rate is 50.0 percent. Construction clears it in neither count nor quality, sitting second from the bottom above only mining.
Construction sector at a glance, against the national line
| Measure | Construction | National |
|---|---|---|
| Registered companies | 283,534 | 1,986,489 |
| Share of classified firms | 14.3% | 100% |
| Rank by company count | 2nd | all sectors |
| Survival rate | 42.5% | 50.0% |
| Net profit margin | 1.95% | reference |
| Return on equity | 2.15% | reference |
| Reported revenue | 2.30 trillion baht | 3.0% of total |
Construction section F metrics next to the whole-economy comparison, as of 2 Jul 2026.
Why this matters
The construction number tells you to read a building company by its base rate first. Nearly three in five construction firms on the register are already dormant, so a live one is the minority case, not the default. That reframes due diligence for anyone lending to a contractor, subcontracting a build, or extending trade credit on materials. The margin math explains the churn. At a net margin of 1.95 percent, a construction firm keeps under two satang of every baht it books, so one delayed payment or one project overrun can erase a year of profit. The cycle does the rest. Construction rides public and private building pipelines that swing from year to year, and a thin cushion turns each downturn into closures (NESDC, 2026). A sector that lives on lumpy project pipelines and wafer margins produces exactly this pattern: easy to enter, hard to survive. The count says construction is everywhere. The survival rate says most of it does not stay.
Definitions
- Survival rate
- Active companies as a share of active plus dormant companies. A 42.5 percent survival rate means fewer than 43 of every 100 registered firms in the group remain active.
- Dormant
- A registered company that is no longer trading, whether marked inactive, defunct, or struck off, but not yet removed from the register.
- Net profit margin
- Net profit as a share of revenue. A 1.95 percent margin means under two satang of profit for every baht of revenue.
- Return on equity
- Net profit as a share of shareholder equity, a measure of how much profit the sector generates on the capital owners have put in.
- Industry section
- A top-level grouping in the Thailand Standard Industrial Classification. Construction is section F, covering building, civil engineering, and specialised construction firms.
- Classified firms
- The 1,986,489 registered companies that have been assigned to an industry section, the base used for sector share, rather than the entire register.
- Aggregate
- A figure built by summing across all firms in the section first, so total sector net profit divided by total sector revenue, not the average of each company's own ratio.
Assumptions
- Survival is measured by registration status, not by revenue or employment, so a technically active but idle firm still counts as surviving.
- Financial ratios include only companies that filed a financial statement, so firms that never filed do not affect the margin or return figures.
- Company count reflects registration into section F and does not separate general contractors from specialised trades.
- Sector metrics are a point in time snapshot as of 2 July 2026 and do not track when firms went dormant.
Methodology
Figures are drawn from the Department of Business Development registry as of 2 July 2026 for Thailand Standard Industrial Classification section F, construction. Company count is the number of registered juristic persons classified into the section. Survival rate is active companies divided by active plus dormant companies in the section. Net profit margin and return on equity are section-wide aggregates from filed financial statements, meaning total sector net profit divided by total revenue, and total net profit divided by total equity, not the average of individual company ratios. Only firms that filed a statement contribute to the financial ratios. Share of classified firms uses the 1,986,489 companies assigned to an industry, not the full register.
How we verified this
- Recomputed the count share as 283,534 divided by 1,986,489, which returns 0.1427, or 14.3 percent, matching the stated share.
- Confirmed construction survival of 42.5 percent is below the national survival rate of 50.0 percent, a gap of 7.5 percentage points.
- Confirmed construction at 42.5 percent is the second lowest sector survival, above only mining and quarrying at 30.9 percent.
- Derived construction dormancy as 100 minus 42.5, which equals 57.5 percent, so a majority of registered construction firms are dormant.
- Confirmed construction reported revenue of 2.30 trillion baht is stated as 3.0 percent of the national total, implying a national base near 76.7 trillion baht.
References
- Department of Business Development. (2026). Registered juristic persons by status, industry section, 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 Q1 of 2026 and the outlook for 2026. NESDC, Thailand. https://www.nesdc.go.th/nesdb_en/
Frequently asked questions
How many construction companies are there in Thailand?
There are 283,534 registered construction companies as of 2 July 2026, which is 14.3 percent of all classified firms and the second largest sector by count.
What is the survival rate of Thai construction companies?
42.5 percent, meaning fewer than half of registered construction firms remain active. That is the second lowest survival rate of any sector, above only mining at 30.9 percent.
How profitable is the construction sector in Thailand?
Thinly. The sector reports a net profit margin of 1.95 percent and a return on equity of 2.15 percent on 2.30 trillion baht of revenue.
Why do so many construction companies go dormant?
Low barriers to entry crowd the sector, margins near 1.95 percent leave almost no cushion, and lumpy project pipelines mean one delay or overrun can sink a firm.
Cite this page
Chatpong L. (2026). Construction Companies in Thailand: Count and Survival 2026. Max Data Insights. https://maxdatathailand.com/insights/construction-companies-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.