Mining vs Manufacturing Profitability in Thailand 2026
In short
Mining and quarrying posts Thailand's strongest non financial net margin, at 14.0 percent, as of 17 July 2026. Manufacturing trails badly, at just 4.4 percent. Manufacturing fields 230,396 registered companies. Mining has only 8,231, twenty eight times fewer. Manufacturing's revenue runs 56 times larger than mining's. Mining still turns 3.2 times more of each baht into profit. Scale did not buy manufacturing the margin.
How do mining and manufacturing compare on profitability in Thailand?
Mining and quarrying converts 14.0 percent of every baht of revenue into net profit as of 17 July 2026 (DBD, 2026). Manufacturing converts just 4.4 percent. That gap holds even though manufacturing dwarfs mining on almost every other measure. Manufacturing counts 230,396 registered companies against mining's 8,231, twenty eight times more. Manufacturing also books 25.1 trillion baht in aggregate revenue against mining's 448.9 billion baht, a 56 times gap. The national net margin across every sector sits at 4.1 percent. Manufacturing barely clears that average. Mining runs 3.4 times above it.
Net margin: mining, manufacturing and the national average
- Mining and quarrying14
- Manufacturing4
- National average, all sectors4
Figures in percent net margin.
Mining keeps more than three times the share of revenue that manufacturing keeps, and more than three times the national average.
Mining and quarrying versus manufacturing, side by side
| Metric | Mining and quarrying | Manufacturing |
|---|---|---|
| Registered companies | 8,231 | 230,396 |
| Aggregate revenue, billion baht | 448.9 | 25,131.0 |
| Aggregate net profit, billion baht | 63.0 | 1,099.8 |
| Net margin | 14.0% | 4.4% |
| Return on assets | 5.2% | 4.5% |
| Return on equity | 7.9% | 9.8% |
| Revenue per registered company, million baht | 54.5 | 109.1 |
| Net profit per registered company, million baht | 7.65 | 4.77 |
Section aggregates from the DBD registry, as of 17 Jul 2026.
Reading the gap with care
One number cuts the other way. Manufacturing's return on equity is 9.8 percent, ahead of mining's 7.9 percent, even though mining wins clearly on net margin. A thinner margin spread over more revenue and faster equity turnover can still beat a fat margin on a small base. Both sectors also lean on giants. PTT Exploration and Production alone reported 85.5 billion baht in revenue, a fifth of the entire mining sector's total. Manufacturing's top filer, PTT Public Company Limited, reported 1.56 trillion baht on its own, more than three times the whole mining sector's revenue combined. Section averages hide that concentration on both sides.
Why this pairing matters
Manufacturing anchors far more of Thailand's registered business base and moves far more revenue through the economy than mining ever will. Judge the two sectors on revenue alone and manufacturing looks like the stronger performer by a wide margin. Judge them on net margin and the story flips, with mining keeping 14.0 percent of every baht against manufacturing's 4.4 percent. Scale and profit efficiency are answering two different questions here, not one. A lender, investor or policymaker who reads only the revenue league table would miss the second story entirely, and it is the more useful one for judging how efficiently a sector turns activity into profit.
Definitions
- Net margin
- Net profit as a share of revenue. A margin of ten percent means ten satang of profit for every baht of revenue.
- Return on assets
- Net profit as a share of total assets, a measure of how efficiently a sector's asset base generates profit.
- Return on equity
- Net profit as a share of shareholder equity, a measure of how efficiently invested capital generates profit.
- TSIC section
- One of the 21 lettered top level categories in Thailand's Standard Industrial Classification, the broadest industry grouping the registry uses.
- Aggregate margin
- Total sector net profit divided by total sector revenue, rather than the average of each individual company's own margin.
- Revenue and profit per registered company
- Aggregate sector revenue or profit divided by every company registered under that section, including companies that filed no financial statement, so it understates what a single active filer earns.
Assumptions
- Net margin, return on assets and return on equity include only companies that filed a financial statement, while entity counts include every registered company in the section.
- Revenue and profit per registered company therefore divide by a larger base than the filers alone, so they read lower than a per filer average would.
- Both sectors are concentrated in a small number of large filers, so the section aggregate does not describe a typical small mining or manufacturing company.
- Mining and quarrying in this classification includes oil and gas exploration and production, which is far more capital intensive than most quarrying activity.
Methodology
Net margin, return on assets and return on equity are aggregate ratios, total sector net profit or profit measure divided by the relevant total, computed from DBD financial statement filings as of 17 July 2026. Entity counts cover every company registered under each TSIC section, including companies that filed no financial statement, so revenue and profit per registered company divide by the full registered count rather than by filers alone. Sections are the 21 lettered TSIC classifications used by the Thai registry. Aggregate margins are not the average of each company's own margin.
How we verified this
- Company count multiple recomputed as 230,396 divided by 8,231 equals 27.99, rounded to 28.0 times, matching the brief.
- Revenue multiple recomputed as 25,130,983,654,714.83 divided by 448,874,025,175.37 equals 55.99, rounded to 56.0 times, matching the brief.
- Margin multiple recomputed as 14.034 divided by 4.376 equals 3.21, rounded to 3.2 times.
- Net profit multiple recomputed as 1,099,769,416,992.99 divided by 62,996,993,274.82 equals 17.46 times, far below the 28 times company gap and 56 times revenue gap, which is the core finding.
- Revenue per registered company recomputed as total revenue divided by entity count for each section: 54.5 million baht for mining, 109.1 million baht for manufacturing.
- Net profit per registered company recomputed the same way: 7.65 million baht for mining, 4.77 million baht for manufacturing, a 1.6 times gap in favor of mining.
- Section entity counts sum to 1,986,489 across all 21 sections, matching the registry's total classified company count, confirming entity_count is a full registered count, not a filer only count.
- Manufacturing and mining margins each recomputed against the national average net margin of 4.106 percent, giving 3.4 times for mining and 1.07 times for manufacturing.
References
- Department of Business Development. (2026). Registered juristic persons and financial statement aggregates. Ministry of Commerce, Thailand. https://www.dbd.go.th/
- Office of the National Economic and Social Development Council. (2025). Gross domestic product: Quarterly national accounts. NESDC, Thailand. https://www.nesdc.go.th/
Frequently asked questions
Is mining more profitable than manufacturing in Thailand?
Yes, by net margin. Mining and quarrying keeps 14.0 percent of every baht of revenue as net profit, against 4.4 percent for manufacturing, as of 17 July 2026.
Why is manufacturing's margin so much lower if it earns more total profit?
Manufacturing runs 28 times more companies and 56 times more revenue than mining, so its total profit pool is larger even at a thinner 4.4 percent margin. Mining's smaller, more concentrated revenue base converts a far bigger share of each baht into profit.
Does manufacturing beat mining on any profitability measure?
Yes. Manufacturing's return on equity is 9.8 percent against mining's 7.9 percent, so equity turnover favors manufacturing even though net margin favors mining.
Cite this page
Chatpong L. (2026). Mining vs Manufacturing Profitability in Thailand 2026. Max Data Insights. https://maxdatathailand.com/insights/mining-vs-manufacturing-margins-in-thailand-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.