How Profitable Are Thai Companies? Margin, ROA and ROE (2026)
In short
Across all filed financial statements, Thai companies earn an aggregate net margin of 4.42 percent, a return on assets of 2.62 percent and a return on equity of 6.3 percent as of 2 July 2026. Profitability has drifted down over the past decade. Return on equity peaked above 13.3 percent in the early 2010s and now sits near 7.79 percent. Thai firms have grown larger while their returns have thinned.
How profitable is the average Thai company?
Taken together, Thai companies keep 4.42 baht of net profit out of every hundred baht of revenue (DBD, 2026). They return 2.62 percent on their assets and 6.3 percent on shareholder equity. Those are aggregate figures across every company that has filed accounts, so they lean toward the larger firms that carry most of the revenue. A typical small company sits below these numbers on scale but often above them on margin.
Return on equity by year, 2007 to 2025
Figures in percent return on equity.
Return on equity ran in double digits through the early 2010s, then stepped down to the seven to eight percent range.
Profitability ratios by year
| Year | Net margin | ROA | ROE |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 5.31% | 4% | 10.95% |
| 2017 | 5.35% | 3.45% | 9.67% |
| 2018 | 6.57% | 3.26% | 7.95% |
| 2019 | 2.58% | 1.6% | 4.34% |
| 2020 | 3.61% | 1.98% | 5.47% |
| 2021 | 5.46% | 3.02% | 8.46% |
| 2022 | 4.97% | 3.1% | 8.56% |
| 2023 | 4.01% | 2.39% | 6.62% |
| 2024 | 4.47% | 2.7% | 7.05% |
| 2025 | 4.81% | 2.98% | 7.79% |
Aggregate net margin, ROA and ROE by statement year, as of 2 Jul 2026.
The long slide in returns
The clearest trend in twenty years of accounts is the fall in return on equity, from a peak above 13.3 percent in 2013 to under 8.79 percent in recent years. Net margin has been steadier, though it dipped to a low of 2.58 percent in 2019 before recovering. The pattern points to a maturing company base. As more firms register and balance sheets grow, the same pool of profit is spread across more equity, so the return each baht of capital earns has come down.
Definitions
- Return on assets
- Net profit as a share of total assets. It measures how much profit a company squeezes from everything it owns.
- Return on equity
- Net profit as a share of shareholder equity. It measures the return earned on the owners' capital.
Assumptions
- Aggregate ratios weight larger companies more heavily because they hold most of the revenue and assets.
- The most recent statement year is incomplete and treated as provisional.
Methodology
Net margin, return on assets and return on equity are aggregate ratios, computed as total net profit divided by total revenue, total assets and total equity respectively, across all companies that filed a statement for the given year. Figures come from the DBD registry as of 2 July 2026. The most recent statement year is still filling in and is read as provisional. Ratios are sector-wide aggregates rather than averages of individual company ratios.
How we verified this
- Aggregate net margin cross-checked as total net profit 3,390,238,570,291 divided by total revenue 76,623,676,606,250, which equals 4.42 percent.
- The return-on-equity series maximum was confirmed at 13.3 percent in 2013.
- The net-margin low of 2.58 percent was confirmed in 2019.
References
- Department of Business Development. (2026). Registered juristic persons and financial statement aggregates. Ministry of Commerce, Thailand. https://www.dbd.go.th/
Frequently asked questions
How profitable are Thai companies on average?
On aggregate they earn a 4.42 percent net margin, a 2.62 percent return on assets and a 6.3 percent return on equity.
Have Thai company returns risen or fallen?
Fallen. Return on equity has slid from above 13.3 percent in 2013 to around 7.79 percent in the mid 2020s.
Why is return on equity declining?
As the company base grows and balance sheets expand, profit is spread across more equity, lowering the return per baht of capital.
Cite this page
Chatpong L. (2026). How Profitable Are Thai Companies? Margin, ROA and ROE (2026). Max Data Insights. https://maxdatathailand.com/insights/how-profitable-are-thai-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.