Named Thai Industries Losing the Most Companies in 2026
In short
Construction of non-residential buildings lost 1,413 company filers in Thailand's latest filing year, the steepest drop of any named industry, as of 14 August 2026. That is more than double the 551 filers lost by the next distinct industry, road transport services of freight by other goods. Its closest relative, construction of residential buildings, lost 818. Across the registry, 678 of 997 named industries with comparable data shrank in the latest year. Only 225 grew. The ten hardest hit industries together account for 26.17 percent of every filer lost among all shrinking industries.
Which industry lost the most companies in the latest filing year?
Construction of non-residential buildings answers that question outright. Its filer count fell from 36,712 in statement year 2024 to 35,299 in statement year 2025, a drop of 1,413 companies, per DBD registry data as of 14 August 2026. No other named Thai industry lost more filers in raw numbers. The next-closest distinct industry, road transport services of freight by other goods, lost 551, less than half as many. Construction of residential buildings sits in between at 818, the closest relative to the year's biggest loser. Measured by rate rather than raw count, the smaller residential trade actually shrank faster. Residential building construction fell 6.37 percent in the latest year. Non-residential building construction fell 3.85 percent even as it shed far more filers in absolute terms.
Filers lost by named Thai industry, FY2024 to FY2025
- Construction of non-residential buildings1,413
- Construction of residential buildings818
- Road transport of freight by other goods551
- Retail sale of construction materials463
- Electrical installation353
- Wholesale of other machinery and equipment323
- Other specialized construction activities244
- Retail sale of jewellery225
- Wholesale of cosmetics and toilet preparations213
- Manufacture of perfumes and toilet preparations212
Figures in filers lost.
Construction trades fill four of the ten steepest declines. Non-residential building construction stands well clear of the field.
Ten named industries with the steepest filer declines
| Industry | TSIC code | FY2024 filers | FY2025 filers | Decline | Decline rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Construction of non-residential buildings | 41002 | 36,712 | 35,299 | 1,413 | 3.85% |
| Construction of residential buildings | 41001 | 12,839 | 12,021 | 818 | 6.37% |
| Road transport services of freight by other goods | 49339 | 6,858 | 6,307 | 551 | 8.03% |
| Retail sale of other construction materials in specialized stores | 47524 | 9,054 | 8,591 | 463 | 5.11% |
| Electrical installation | 43210 | 9,461 | 9,108 | 353 | 3.73% |
| Wholesale of other machinery and equipment, not elsewhere classified | 46599 | 13,144 | 12,821 | 323 | 2.46% |
| Other specialized construction activities, not elsewhere classified | 43909 | 3,238 | 2,994 | 244 | 7.54% |
| Retail sale of jewellery in specialized stores | 47732 | 8,748 | 8,523 | 225 | 2.57% |
| Wholesale of cosmetics and toilet preparations | 46443 | 3,413 | 3,200 | 213 | 6.24% |
| Manufacture of perfumes, cosmetics and toilet preparations | 20232 | 2,832 | 2,620 | 212 | 7.49% |
Filer counts by 5 digit TSIC code, statement years 2024 and 2025, Buddhist years 2567 and 2568, as of 14 Aug 2026.
Why a filer decline like this matters
A one year drop in filer counts is not proof of a wave of closures. Some companies went dormant without filing, and some merged into a related entity rather than shutting down. The pattern still lines up with what dissolution filings show independently. Construction, real estate, electrical installation and advertising recorded the highest volume of business closures in Thailand through the first half of 2026, per a Thailand News report on registry filings (Thailand News, 2026). The report counted 7,024 dissolved businesses in that period. Their registered capital was up 223.66 percent year over year. Electrical installation shows up in both datasets, which is a useful check that this is not a one off signal from a single source. Building construction also carries a wide survival gap. Only 35.3 percent of the 165,550 companies ever registered as non-residential builders are still active. Residential builders fare better, with 53.1 percent of the 38,439 ever registered still active. Thailand's biggest construction trade has always run leaner than its residential counterpart, and the latest filing year widened that gap further.
Definitions
- TSIC
- Thailand Standard Industrial Classification, the 5 digit code the Department of Business Development assigns to a registered company's main activity.
- Filer
- A company counted for a given statement year because it submitted a financial statement covering that year to the DBD.
- Statement year
- The fiscal year a filed financial statement covers, recorded in the Buddhist calendar. Subtract 543 to get the Gregorian year, so 2568 is 2025.
- Named industry
- A 5 digit TSIC code with a standard classification title published under TSIC 2009, as distinct from the raw numeric code alone.
- Decline rate
- The filer count lost in the latest statement year divided by the prior year's filer count, shown as a percentage.
- Active share
- The share of every company ever registered under a TSIC code that DBD still lists as active, regardless of when each one was founded.
Assumptions
- Filer counts reflect what had been submitted to DBD by the time this registry snapshot was computed on 14 August 2026. Statement year 2025 filings can still arrive late and revise these counts upward.
- A decline in filer count is treated as a proxy for industry contraction, not direct proof that every missing company closed. Some may have gone dormant, merged, or simply filed late.
- Comparisons are restricted to the 997 TSIC codes with a filer count in both statement years 2024 and 2025. Codes present in only one of the two years were excluded from the ranking.
- One industry with a meaningful decline, a passenger land transport subclass at TSIC 49323, down 259 filers, was excluded from the named ranking because Max Data could not confirm its public classification title.
- Active and entity counts used for the survival comparison are lifetime totals for each TSIC code, not limited to the two statement years compared elsewhere in this piece.
Methodology
Filer counts come from DBD registered company financial statements, aggregated by 5 digit TSIC industry code and statement year in the Max Data registry as of 14 August 2026. A filer is a company that submitted a financial statement covering that statement year. Statement years 2024 and 2025 correspond to Buddhist years 2567 and 2568. Statement year 2569, which covers 2026, is excluded because it remains incomplete. Industry names follow the published TSIC 2009 classification rather than the raw numeric code. Comparisons are limited to the 997 TSIC codes with a filer count in both years. One industry with a meaningful decline lacked a confirmed public classification title and was left out of the named ranking rather than guessed at.
How we verified this
- 1,413 recomputed as 36,712 minus 35,299 for TSIC 41002, construction of non-residential buildings.
- 818 recomputed as 12,839 minus 12,021 for TSIC 41001, construction of residential buildings.
- 1,413 divided by 551 equals 2.56, confirming the non-residential building construction decline is more than double the next distinct named industry, road transport services of freight by other goods.
- 1,413 divided by 36,712 equals 3.85 percent, the decline rate for non-residential building construction.
- 818 divided by 12,839 equals 6.37 percent, the decline rate for residential building construction, confirming it fell faster by rate despite a smaller raw decline.
- 58,492 divided by 165,550 equals 35.3 percent active for non-residential building construction, versus 20,403 divided by 38,439 equals 53.1 percent active for residential building construction.
- The ten industries in the ranking table lose 4,815 filers combined. Divided by 18,398, the total filers lost across all 678 shrinking named industries, that equals 26.17 percent.
- 678 shrinking plus 225 growing plus 94 flat equals 997, the full set of named industries with a filer count in both FY2024 and FY2025.
References
- Department of Business Development. (2026). Registered juristic persons and financial statement aggregates. Ministry of Commerce, Thailand. https://www.dbd.go.th/
- Thailand News. (2026, August 10). Thailand faces surge in business closures as economic pressures widen. https://www.thailandnews.co/2026/08/thailand-faces-surge-in-business-closures-as-economic-pressures-widen/
Frequently asked questions
Which Thai industry lost the most companies in the latest filing year?
Construction of non-residential buildings, down 1,413 filers, from 36,712 to 35,299 between statement years 2024 and 2025.
Does a falling filer count mean these companies closed down?
Not necessarily. Some companies stop filing because they went dormant or merged rather than dissolved. Dissolution data from Thailand News independently points to the same industries, construction, real estate, electrical installation and advertising, which supports the closure interpretation without proving it for every company.
Which named industry shrank fastest by percentage rather than raw count?
Road transport services of freight by other goods, down 8.03 percent, the steepest rate among the ten industries with the largest raw declines.
How many named Thai industries are growing versus shrinking right now?
678 of 997 named industries with comparable data lost filers in the latest year, 225 gained filers, and 94 held flat.
Cite this page
Chatpong L. (2026). Named Thai Industries Losing the Most Companies in 2026. Max Data Insights. https://maxdatathailand.com/insights/named-thai-industries-losing-the-most-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.