How Many Thai Industry Sections Beat the National Margin 2026
In short
Fifteen of Thailand's 21 industry sections beat the national net margin of 4.11 percent, as of 17 July 2026. That is seven sections in ten clearing a number most people read as the typical result. The other six sections pull the average down because two of them are enormous. Wholesale and retail trade alone holds 715,976 companies and earns just 1.27 percent net margin. Construction adds another 283,534 companies at 2.31 percent. The national figure describes the weight of a few giants more than it describes a typical firm.
So how many sections actually beat the average?
Fifteen of the 21 sections clear the national net margin. The countrywide figure sits at 4.11 percent as of 17 July 2026, computed as total net profit over total revenue across every company with a filed financial statement (DBD, 2026). Financial and insurance leads by a wide margin at 25.40 percent, and administrative and support services just clears the bar at 4.33 percent. Only six sections fall short of the national line. They are agriculture, construction, wholesale and retail trade, other service activities, arts and entertainment, and extraterritorial organizations. Wholesale and retail trade is the one that matters most. It carries more registered companies than any other section, 715,976 of them, yet returns a net margin of only 1.27 percent. A single section that large is enough to pull the whole country's average down on its own.
Net profit margin by industry section, ranked against the national average
- Financial and insurance25
- Mining and quarrying14
- Households as employers14
- Professional, scientific and technical14
- Education13
- Electricity and gas12
- Human health and social work11
- Real estate8
- Water supply and waste management7
- Transportation and storage6
- Information and communication6
- Accommodation and food service6
- Public administration5
- Manufacturing4
- Administrative and support4
- National average4
- Agriculture, forestry and fishing3
- Construction2
- Wholesale and retail trade1
- Other service activities0
- Arts, entertainment and recreation-1
- Extraterritorial organizations-10
Figures in percent net margin.
The dashed line sits at 4.11 percent, the national average. Fifteen bars clear it, six do not.
All 21 industry sections against the national margin
| Industry section | Net margin | Companies | Beats national average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Financial and insurance | 25.40% | 35,567 | Yes |
| Mining and quarrying | 14.03% | 8,231 | Yes |
| Households as employers | 13.67% | 32 | Yes |
| Professional, scientific and technical | 13.64% | 138,962 | Yes |
| Education | 13.13% | 13,897 | Yes |
| Electricity and gas | 11.86% | 7,833 | Yes |
| Human health and social work | 11.07% | 17,294 | Yes |
| Real estate | 7.69% | 149,608 | Yes |
| Water supply and waste management | 7.31% | 4,818 | Yes |
| Transportation and storage | 6.27% | 85,273 | Yes |
| Information and communication | 5.81% | 52,537 | Yes |
| Accommodation and food service | 5.65% | 83,598 | Yes |
| Public administration | 5.45% | 38 | Yes |
| Manufacturing | 4.38% | 230,396 | Yes |
| Administrative and support | 4.33% | 100,691 | Yes |
| Agriculture, forestry and fishing | 2.55% | 19,259 | No |
| Construction | 2.31% | 283,534 | No |
| Wholesale and retail trade | 1.27% | 715,976 | No |
| Other service activities | 0.37% | 20,455 | No |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | -1.09% | 18,486 | No |
| Extraterritorial organizations | -10.00% | 4 | No |
Net margin, company count and whether each section beats the 4.11 percent national average, as of 17 Jul 2026.
Why this matters
A national average hides how it was built. Fifteen sections outperform Thailand's national net margin, so on a straight count the typical section beats the headline number. Count companies instead of sections and the picture flips. Of the 1,986,489 companies with a classified industry section, 1,057,714 of them sit inside one of the six below-average sections. That is 53.2 percent of every classified company in Thailand. Wholesale and retail trade alone holds 715,976 companies, more than a third of every classified company in the country, and it earns less than a third of the national margin. Construction adds another 283,534 companies at 2.31 percent. Between them, these two sections alone hold just over half of all classified companies in Thailand. A reader who hears 4.11 percent and assumes it describes an average business is picturing the wrong firm. It more closely describes a shop or a building site than the professional services firm or the health provider that actually sits above the line. Anyone benchmarking a company against the national margin should first check which side of this 15 to 6 split their own sector sits on, because the gap between them is wide enough to change the conclusion entirely.
Definitions
- Net margin
- Net profit as a share of revenue. A margin of 4.11 percent means about four satang of profit for every baht of revenue.
- Aggregate margin
- Total profit for every company in a group divided by total revenue for that group, rather than the average of each company's own individual margin.
- Industry section
- One of the 21 lettered top-level categories in the Thailand Standard Industrial Classification, such as manufacturing or wholesale and retail trade, each one made up of many narrower five-digit industry codes.
- National average net margin
- The single whole-economy figure from combining every filed company's net profit and revenue, used here as the benchmark line each section is measured against.
Assumptions
- A section counts as beating the average only when its own aggregate net margin, before rounding, exceeds the national aggregate net margin.
- Margins are aggregate figures built from total profit over total revenue for each section, not the average of each company's own reported margin.
- Three sections carry very few filing companies, households as employers with 32, public administration with 38 and extraterritorial organizations with 4, so a handful of filings can move their margin sharply.
- Only companies with both a classified industry section and a filed financial statement contribute to any margin shown here.
Methodology
Net margin is aggregate net profit divided by aggregate revenue for all companies within a TSIC industry section that have filed a financial statement, drawn from the DBD registry via market_section_insight and compared against the whole-economy figure in market_national_insight, both as of 17 July 2026. A section counts as beating the national average when its own net margin exceeds the national avg_net_margin figure of 4.1057 percent before rounding. Three sections carry very few filing companies, households as employers with 32, public administration with 38, and extraterritorial organizations with 4, so their margins are more volatile than the larger sections and are flagged rather than hidden.
How we verified this
- Summed entity_count across all 21 market_section_insight rows: 35567 + 8231 + 32 + 138962 + 13897 + 7833 + 17294 + 149608 + 4818 + 85273 + 52537 + 83598 + 38 + 230396 + 100691 + 19259 + 283534 + 715976 + 20455 + 18486 + 4 equals 1,986,489, matching the guide's classified company count.
- Counted every section whose net_margin exceeds the national avg_net_margin of 4.1057 percent: K, B, T, M, P, D, Q, L, E, H, J, I, O, C and N, which is 15 sections. That leaves 6 below the line: A, F, G, S, R and U. 15 divided by 21 equals 71.4 percent, and 6 divided by 21 equals 28.6 percent.
- Summed entity_count for the 15 above-average sections: 928,775. Summed entity_count for the 6 below-average sections: 1,057,714. The two totals add to 1,986,489, matching the full classified count. 1,057,714 divided by 1,986,489 equals 53.2 percent.
- Wholesale and retail trade entity_count of 715,976 divided by the classified total of 1,986,489 equals 36.0 percent, and wholesale and retail trade plus construction, 715,976 plus 283,534 equals 999,510, divided by 1,986,489 equals 50.3 percent of all classified companies.
References
- Department of Business Development. (2026). Registered juristic persons and financial statement aggregates. Ministry of Commerce, Thailand. https://www.dbd.go.th/
- OECD. (2025). OECD Capital Market Review of Thailand 2025: The corporate sector. OECD Publishing. https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/oecd-capital-market-review-of-thailand-2025_0a975590-en/full-report/the-corporate-sector_008c96e5.html
Frequently asked questions
How many of Thailand's 21 industry sections beat the national profit margin?
Fifteen of the 21 sections beat the national net margin of 4.11 percent, leaving six sections below it, as of 17 July 2026.
Which industry sections fall below the national average margin?
Agriculture, construction, wholesale and retail trade, other service activities, arts and entertainment, and extraterritorial organizations all sit below the 4.11 percent national margin.
If most sections beat the average, why is the national figure so low?
Because the national figure is weighted by revenue and company count, not by section. Wholesale and retail trade alone holds 715,976 companies at a 1.27 percent margin, enough to drag the whole-economy number down even though most sections individually do better.
What share of Thai companies sit in a below-average section?
53.2 percent of Thai companies with a classified industry section sit inside one of the six below-average sections. That is 1,057,714 of 1,986,489 companies.
Cite this page
Chatpong L. (2026). How Many Thai Industry Sections Beat the National Margin 2026. Max Data Insights. https://maxdatathailand.com/insights/how-many-thai-industry-sections-beat-the-national-profit-margin-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.