How Profit Swung Across Thai Industries in the 2020 Shock
In short
Accommodation and food service profit collapsed from an 854 million baht surplus in 2019 to a 75.0 billion baht loss in 2020. Transportation and storage swung from a 49.2 billion baht profit to a 153.4 billion baht loss over the same year. Financial and insurance shed 266.8 billion baht of profit, the largest baht decline of any section, yet stayed solidly profitable. Manufacturing moved the opposite way, turning a 434.8 billion baht loss into a 679.0 billion baht profit, the largest swing in either direction.
How did profit swing across Thailand's industry sections in the 2020 shock?
Accommodation and food service ran a thin 854 million baht profit in 2019. That flipped to a 75.0 billion baht loss in 2020, when lockdowns and closed borders hit restaurants and hotels hardest (DBD, 2026). Transportation and storage moved the same direction. Its 49.2 billion baht profit in 2019 became a 153.4 billion baht loss in 2020. Only three of the 18 measured industry sections crossed from profit into loss that year. Those three are transportation and storage, accommodation and food service, and other service activities. Financial and insurance lost the most money in absolute terms. Its profit fell 266.8 billion baht, from 748.3 billion to 481.5 billion, yet it stayed comfortably profitable. Manufacturing swung the other way entirely. It turned a 434.8 billion baht loss in 2019 into a 679.0 billion baht profit in 2020, a 1.11 trillion baht move and the largest of any section.
Net profit swing by industry section, 2019 to 2020
- Financial and insurance-267
- Transportation and storage-203
- Wholesale and retail trade-100
- Accommodation and food service-76
- Information and communication-73
- Professional, scientific and technical-50
- Electricity and gas-25
- Mining and quarrying-22
- Construction-17
- Human health and social work-15
- Arts, entertainment and recreation-8
- Other service activities-3
- Education-1
- Water supply and waste-1
- Agriculture, forestry and fishing1
- Administrative and support10
- Real estate82
- Manufacturing1,114
Figures in billion baht change in net profit.
Contact heavy sectors serving travelers and commuters lost the most ground. Manufacturing and real estate moved the other way.
Net profit by industry section, 2019 versus 2020
| Industry section | 2019 net profit (billion baht) | 2020 net profit (billion baht) | Swing (billion baht) | 2019 margin | 2020 margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Financial and insurance | 748.33 | 481.50 | -266.83 | 25.81% | 18.65% |
| Transportation and storage | 49.17 | -153.35 | -202.52 | 3.63% | -14.41% |
| Wholesale and retail trade | 384.68 | 284.36 | -100.32 | 2.10% | 1.61% |
| Accommodation and food service | 0.85 | -74.99 | -75.85 | 0.15% | -22.31% |
| Information and communication | 120.22 | 47.24 | -72.98 | 12.92% | 5.88% |
| Professional, scientific and technical | 114.02 | 64.00 | -50.02 | 14.43% | 10.15% |
| Electricity and gas | 121.77 | 96.55 | -25.22 | 19.88% | 17.50% |
| Mining and quarrying | 49.14 | 27.19 | -21.95 | 17.33% | 11.29% |
| Construction | 48.42 | 31.35 | -17.08 | 3.19% | 2.15% |
| Human health and social work | 41.59 | 27.08 | -14.52 | 13.10% | 9.81% |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | -2.15 | -9.91 | -7.77 | -2.83% | -20.30% |
| Other service activities | 1.33 | -1.79 | -3.11 | 2.93% | -4.93% |
| Education | 2.31 | 1.23 | -1.07 | 6.16% | 3.70% |
| Water supply and waste | 9.72 | 9.13 | -0.59 | 13.78% | 13.29% |
| Agriculture, forestry and fishing | 3.05 | 3.97 | 0.92 | 1.22% | 1.53% |
| Administrative and support | 11.10 | 21.35 | 10.25 | 1.49% | 3.28% |
| Real estate | -31.11 | 51.29 | 82.39 | -2.66% | 4.90% |
| Manufacturing | -434.82 | 679.05 | 1113.87 | -2.40% | 4.18% |
Aggregate net profit, swing and net margin for each of Thailand's 18 lettered industry sections, ranked from the deepest baht decline to the biggest gain, as of 14 Aug 2026.
The section that didn't fit the crisis story
Manufacturing's turnaround changed the national picture. Aggregate net profit across all 18 sections rose 28.09 percent between 2019 and 2020, from 1.24 trillion baht to 1.59 trillion baht. That happened while aggregate revenue fell 8.55 percent, from 48.06 trillion baht to 43.95 trillion baht. Real estate made a smaller version of the same move, from a 31.1 billion baht loss to a 51.3 billion baht profit. A section's fortune in 2020 tracked what it sold and to whom, not the size of the shock alone. Sectors built on physical contact with travelers and commuters recorded the deepest losses. Sectors selling goods and property recorded some of the sharpest gains. The registry cannot say why manufacturing's number moved so far in a single year. A loss as large as its 2019 figure usually traces back to a small number of big filers booking a large charge, and a swing that size does not necessarily mean broad recovery across every factory.
Why this matters
Thailand's official account of 2020 is one number, a 6.1 percent contraction in gross domestic product for the year (National Economic and Social Development Council, 2021). That single figure hides how unevenly the shock landed on registered companies. Two sectors built on physical contact with strangers, transportation and accommodation, absorbed a combined 278.4 billion baht profit swing into loss. Three sectors that kept selling to people who stayed home, manufacturing, real estate and administrative support, gained a combined 1206.5 billion baht of profit over the same year. A relief program sized for the whole economy will overcorrect for manufacturers and undercorrect for hotels and bus operators. A bank pricing loans sector by sector needs exactly this kind of split, not one national profit line that nets a boom in one column against a bust in another.
Definitions
- Net profit swing
- The change in a section's total net profit from one year to the next, in baht, calculated as the later year's net profit minus the earlier year's.
- Net margin
- A section's total net profit divided by its total revenue, not the average of each company's own margin.
- Statement year
- The fiscal year covered by a filed financial statement. The DBD registry records this in the Buddhist calendar, so 2019 corresponds to Buddhist year 2562 and 2020 to 2563.
- Industry section
- One of the lettered top level categories of the Thailand Standard Industrial Classification, such as manufacturing or transportation and storage, each built from many 5-digit industry codes.
Assumptions
- A company counts toward a year's total only if it filed a statement for that year. Firms that stopped filing drop out of the later year, which can understate the true decline in a hard hit sector.
- A single very large profit swing, such as manufacturing's, is often driven by a small number of large filers changing one big accounting item. The registry can show how large a swing was but not what caused it.
- Sections cover the 18 lettered TSIC categories that hold private registered companies. Public administration, households and extraterritorial bodies hold none and are excluded.
Methodology
Net profit and revenue are summed from the DBD registry's filed financial statements, aggregated by 5-digit TSIC industry code and rolled up into the parent industry section, for the 2019 and 2020 statement years, as of 14 August 2026. A company counts toward a year's total only if it filed a statement for that year, so year over year change reflects the filing population in each year rather than a fixed panel of the same firms. Public administration, households and extraterritorial organizations hold no companies in the registry's TSIC sections and are excluded, leaving 18 sections. Figures are aggregate section totals, not the average of individual company margins.
How we verified this
- Recomputed each section's profit swing as 2020 net profit minus 2019 net profit from the raw market_tsic_year_insight totals rolled up by section, confirming accommodation and food service moved by negative 75.85 billion baht, 854089000.83 to negative 74991900456.89, and transportation and storage moved by negative 202.52 billion baht, 49170302605.39 to negative 153354136858.78.
- Summed net profit across all 18 sections for each year and confirmed the totals, 1237.63 billion baht in 2019 and 1585.22 billion baht in 2020, a 28.09 percent increase, against an 8.55 percent fall in aggregate revenue from 48055.14 billion baht to 43945.46 billion baht.
- Recomputed net margin for each section and year as net profit divided by revenue, confirming accommodation and food service moved from a 0.15 percent margin in 2019 to a negative 22.31 percent margin in 2020, and transportation and storage moved from 3.63 percent to negative 14.41 percent.
- Counted sections that crossed from a 2019 profit to a 2020 loss and confirmed exactly three: transportation and storage, accommodation and food service, and other service activities. Confirmed two sections crossed the opposite way, from a 2019 loss to a 2020 profit: manufacturing, negative 434.82 to 679.05 billion baht, and real estate, negative 31.11 to 51.29 billion baht.
- Added the transportation and accommodation swings, negative 202.52 and negative 75.85 billion baht, to confirm the combined 278.4 billion baht figure cited in the closing section, and added the manufacturing, real estate and administrative and support swings, 1113.87, 82.39 and 10.25 billion baht, to confirm the combined 1206.5 billion baht figure.
References
- Department of Business Development. (2026). Registered juristic persons and financial statement aggregates. Ministry of Commerce, Thailand. https://www.dbd.go.th/
- National Economic and Social Development Council. (2021). Thailand's gross domestic product contracted 6.1 percent in 2020 due to Covid-19. Office of the Prime Minister, Thailand. https://www.nesdc.go.th/nesdb_en/
Frequently asked questions
Which Thai industry section lost the most profit in the 2020 pandemic shock?
In baht terms, financial and insurance lost the most, its profit falling 266.8 billion baht from 748.3 billion in 2019 to 481.5 billion in 2020, though it stayed solidly profitable. Transportation and storage and accommodation and food service both flipped from a profit into a loss, the more severe kind of swing.
Did any Thai industry section get more profitable during the 2020 pandemic year?
Yes. Manufacturing swung from a 434.8 billion baht loss in 2019 to a 679.0 billion baht profit in 2020, a 1.11 trillion baht move and the largest of any section. Real estate and administrative and support also improved.
Did total corporate profit in Thailand fall in 2020?
No. Aggregate net profit across the 18 measured industry sections rose 28.09 percent, from 1.24 trillion baht in 2019 to 1.59 trillion baht in 2020, even as aggregate revenue fell 8.55 percent, because manufacturing's gain outweighed the losses in travel and transport.
How many Thai industry sections swung from a profit into a loss in 2020?
Three: transportation and storage, accommodation and food service, and other service activities. Two sections swung the opposite way, from a loss into a profit: manufacturing and real estate.
Cite this page
Chatpong L. (2026). How Profit Swung Across Thai Industries in the 2020 Shock. Max Data Insights. https://maxdatathailand.com/insights/how-thai-industry-sections-profits-swung-in-the-2020-shock-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.