How Few Industry Codes Hold Half of Thai Medium Firms (2026)
In short
Only 48 of 1,228 five-digit industry codes hold half of Thailand's 38,942 medium companies, as of 17 July 2026. Those 48 codes together contain 19,633 medium firms, or 50.4 percent. The single largest code holds 2,353, which is 6.0 percent. Wholesale and retail supplies 27 of the 48 codes. Thailand's mid-sized tier lives in a few dozen trades, not across the whole economy.
How many industry codes hold half of Thailand's medium companies?
Forty-eight. That is the number of five-digit TSIC codes you need, ranked from the most to the least populated, before you have counted half of Thailand's 38,942 medium companies (DBD, 2026). The 48 codes hold 19,633 medium firms, which is 50.4 percent of the tier. They are 3.9 percent of the 1,228 codes in the registry. Only 862 codes have any medium firm at all, so the 48 are 5.6 percent of the codes where the tier exists. The other half of the tier is scattered across 814 codes, most of them with a few dozen firms or fewer.
Cumulative medium companies captured by the biggest codes
- Top 1 code2,353
- Top 5 codes5,830
- Top 10 codes8,380
- Top 20 codes12,110
- Top 30 codes15,310
- Top 48 codes19,633
- Top 100 codes26,341
- Top 200 codes32,223
Figures in medium companies.
Codes are ranked by medium-company count. The curve climbs fast, then flattens. The 48th code crosses the halfway line of 19,471.
Where the 48 codes sit by industry section
| Industry section | Codes in the top 48 | Medium companies | Share of the 19,633 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wholesale and retail trade | 27 | 11,873 | 60.5% |
| Construction | 4 | 2,154 | 11.0% |
| Manufacturing | 5 | 1,512 | 7.7% |
| Transportation and storage | 3 | 1,096 | 5.6% |
| Real estate | 3 | 1,077 | 5.5% |
| Accommodation and food service | 2 | 946 | 4.8% |
| Professional, scientific and technical | 2 | 436 | 2.2% |
| Financial and insurance | 1 | 301 | 1.5% |
| Electricity and gas | 1 | 238 | 1.2% |
| All nine sections | 48 | 19,633 | 100% |
Medium companies in the 48 codes that together hold half of the tier, grouped by TSIC section, as of 17 Jul 2026.
Trade dominates, and the head is steep
Wholesale and retail trade supplies 27 of the 48 codes. Those 27 codes hold 11,873 medium firms, which is 30.5 percent of every medium company in the country. Construction adds four codes and 2,154 firms. Manufacturing, the sector people picture when they hear mid-sized, contributes only five codes and 1,512 firms. The steepness shows at the very top. The biggest code alone holds 2,353 medium firms, 6.0 percent of the tier. The top 10 codes hold 8,380, or 21.5 percent. The top 100 codes hold 26,341, or 67.6 percent. Meanwhile 97 codes have exactly one medium firm, a tier of one.
Why this matters
A medium company is the stepping stone between a family shop and a national name. If that rung exists in only a few dozen places, then lenders, suppliers and policy teams that design programmes for mid-sized firms are really designing them for a handful of trades. A scheme built around the top 48 codes would reach half the tier with 3.9 percent of the code list. A scheme built around manufacturing would miss most of it. The flip side is a warning for founders. In 366 codes, 29.8 percent of the list, no firm has yet reached medium size, so growing past small is rare there and may point to a niche that stays small by nature. Anyone building for mid-sized firms should start with the 48 codes, then ask why the rest stay thin.
Definitions
- TSIC
- Thailand Standard Industrial Classification. The five-digit code places a company in a detailed line of business, and its first letter-level section gives the broad industry.
- Medium company
- A registered company in the medium size band of the DBD registry, above small and below large.
- Cumulative share
- The running total of medium firms as codes are added from largest to smallest, divided by the national medium total.
- Five-digit code
- The most detailed TSIC level in the registry, with 1,228 codes populated.
Assumptions
- Size bands are those assigned in the registry and may lag a firm's current scale.
- A company is counted under its single registered main industry code.
- Ranking ties are broken by total companies in the code, which does not change the count of 48.
- Codes cannot be named, so the section view is a grouping and not a description of the exact trade.
Methodology
Counts come from the Department of Business Development company registry, aggregated by five-digit TSIC code and by size band, using rows computed on 17 July 2026. A medium company is one placed in the medium size band of the registry. Codes were ranked by medium-company count, ties broken by total companies in the code, and counted until the running total reached half of 38,942. The 5-digit code names are not available in the source, so codes are described by their parent industry section. The national medium total of 38,942 is the sum across codes and sits slightly above the 38,926 in the earlier national snapshot, because the source refreshed.
How we verified this
- Sum of medium companies across all 862 codes with a medium firm equals 38,942, and half of that is 19,471.
- Running total after 47 codes is 19,440, which is below 19,471. After 48 codes it is 19,633, which crosses it. So 48 is the minimum.
- 19,633 divided by 38,942 is 50.42 percent.
- 48 divided by 1,228 is 3.91 percent, and 48 divided by 862 is 5.57 percent.
- Section code counts 27, 4, 5, 3, 3, 2, 2, 1, 1 sum to 48, and section medium counts 11,873, 2,154, 1,512, 1,096, 1,077, 946, 436, 301, 238 sum to 19,633.
- 11,873 divided by 38,942 is 30.49 percent, and 11,873 divided by 19,633 is 60.47 percent.
- Top 1, 10, 100 shares: 2,353 is 6.04 percent, 8,380 is 21.52 percent, 26,341 is 67.64 percent of 38,942.
- 1,228 codes minus 862 with a medium firm leaves 366 with none, which is 29.8 percent. 862 minus 48 leaves 814.
References
- Department of Business Development. (2026). Registered juristic persons and size-band aggregates by TSIC code. Ministry of Commerce, Thailand. https://www.dbd.go.th/
Frequently asked questions
How many industry codes hold half of Thailand's medium companies?
Forty-eight of 1,228 five-digit codes hold 19,633 of the 38,942 medium companies, which is 50.4 percent, as of 17 July 2026.
Which sector dominates the top 48 codes?
Wholesale and retail trade, with 27 of the 48 codes and 11,873 medium firms.
How many codes have no medium company?
366 of the 1,228 codes have none, so the medium tier exists in 862 codes.
Can the codes be named?
Not from this source. The registry aggregate carries no English description for five-digit codes, so the page groups them by parent section.
Cite this page
Chatpong L. (2026). How Few Industry Codes Hold Half of Thai Medium Firms (2026). Max Data Insights. https://maxdatathailand.com/insights/how-few-industry-codes-hold-half-of-thailands-medium-companies-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.