Registered Companies Per Capita by Thai Province (2026)
In short
Phuket carries 122.23 registered companies for every 1,000 residents as of 7 Jul 2026, 4.06 times Thailand's national average and second only to Bangkok. Bangkok itself leads at 148.97 per 1,000 residents, a 4.95 times multiple, the expected capital effect. Nonthaburi and Chon Buri come next in a near tie, each near 77.7 per 1,000 residents. Samut Prakan follows at 70.68, and Rayong, the leader in revenue per resident, ranks only seventh here at 42.31. Company density and revenue density point to different provinces entirely.
Which province packs in the most companies per resident?
Bangkok is the expected leader in almost every measure of Thai business, and company density is no exception. The capital carries 148.97 registered companies for every 1,000 residents as of 7 Jul 2026, according to Department of Business Development registry data (DBD, 2026), 4.95 times the national average of 30.12 per 1,000. Set the capital effect aside and a different province tops the field, not the ones that usually dominate a Thai province ranking. Phuket carries 122.23 registered companies per 1,000 residents, 4.06 times the national average, a density level closer to Bangkok's than to any other province in the country. Nonthaburi and Chon Buri follow in a near tie, at 77.67 and 77.64 per 1,000 residents. Samut Prakan and Pathum Thani round out the next tier at 70.68 and 65.74. Rayong, the clear leader when this same registry is measured by revenue per resident, ranks only seventh on this list at 42.31 per 1,000 residents. Counting companies against people and counting baht against people turn out to be two different questions.
Registered companies per 1,000 residents by province
- Bangkok149
- Phuket122
- Nonthaburi78
- Chon Buri78
- Samut Prakan71
- Pathum Thani66
- Samut Sakhon53
- Rayong42
- Surat Thani37
- Chiang Mai36
Figures in companies per 1,000 residents.
Bangkok is the expected capital effect. Phuket sits closer to Bangkok's density than to any other province, a tourism driven result that a revenue ranking never surfaces.
Population, companies and density by province
| Province | Population (2024) | Companies | Companies per 1,000 residents | Multiple of national average |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bangkok | 5,456,000 | 812,799 | 149 | 4.95x |
| Phuket | 430,000 | 52,557 | 122 | 4.06x |
| Nonthaburi | 1,318,000 | 102,370 | 78 | 2.58x |
| Chon Buri | 1,636,000 | 127,023 | 78 | 2.58x |
| Samut Prakan | 1,381,000 | 97,609 | 71 | 2.35x |
| Pathum Thani | 1,236,000 | 81,256 | 66 | 2.18x |
| Samut Sakhon | 591,000 | 31,030 | 53 | 1.74x |
| Rayong | 782,000 | 33,083 | 42 | 1.40x |
| Surat Thani | 1,077,000 | 40,161 | 37 | 1.24x |
| Chiang Mai | 1,799,000 | 65,164 | 36 | 1.20x |
| Nakhon Pathom | 926,000 | 27,359 | 30 | 0.98x |
| Thailand, national average | 65,951,000 | 1,986,709 | 30 | 1.00x |
Registered companies per 1,000 residents against Department of Provincial Administration population figures, as of 7 Jul 2026.
Density without scale: Phuket runs on volume, not size
High density does not automatically mean high revenue. Phuket's 52,557 registered companies reported an average of 7,680,596 baht in revenue each, just 0.19 times the national average of 40,308,763 baht per company. Rayong's much smaller base of 33,083 companies averages 96,773,698 baht each, 2.40 times the national figure, and Rayong still trails Phuket badly on density. The contrast is straightforward once both numbers sit side by side. Rayong's economy runs on a smaller number of large petrochemical and manufacturing firms. Phuket's economy runs on a very large number of small operators, guesthouses, tour companies, dive shops and restaurants, packed into a province of only 430,000 registered residents. Phuket's revenue per resident actually sits below the national average, at roughly 938,765 baht against 1,214,281 baht nationally, even though its company density trails only Bangkok's. Counting companies and counting baht produce two different provincial leaderboards from the same registry.
Why this matters
Company density measures something a population figure or a revenue total cannot show on its own. A province with modest total revenue can still be extraordinarily business dense if its economy runs on volume of small registrations rather than a handful of very large firms. Phuket is exactly that case. It ranks nowhere near the top of Thailand's revenue per resident leaderboard, yet it sits second only to Bangkok once companies are counted against residents rather than against baht. For a franchise planner, a tourism board or anyone assessing how saturated a local market already is, density per resident is the number that shows where registration activity has concentrated relative to the people who live there. That is a different question from where the biggest companies sit or where revenue is largest in absolute terms, and this province ranking answers it directly.
Definitions
- Company density
- The number of registered companies per 1,000 residents in a province, a measure of how concentrated business registration is relative to population.
- Registered population
- The Department of Provincial Administration's civil registration count of residents by household registration address, distinct from a de facto headcount of people physically present in a province.
- Province mapped companies
- The sum of registered companies across provinces with a valid province code in the registry, which runs slightly below the whole economy company count because a small number of records carry no province code.
- Average revenue per company
- A province's total reported company revenue divided by its company count, used here to show whether a province's density comes from many small firms or fewer large ones.
Assumptions
- Population figures are Department of Provincial Administration civil registration counts for December 2024, external to and independent of the DBD company registry, and are rounded to the nearest thousand as published.
- Each company is attributed to the province of its registered address, which may differ from where it actually operates, a pattern especially relevant in a tourism economy like Phuket where seasonal staff and visitors are not counted as residents.
- A small number of companies without a mapped province code are excluded from every province total, so the sum of province companies runs marginally below the whole economy company count.
- Companies per 1,000 residents measures registration density relative to headcount. It says nothing about how many of those companies are actively trading, how profitable they are, or how large each one is.
Methodology
Company counts come from market_province_insight in the DBD backed registry, as of 7 Jul 2026. Density divides each province's registered company count by its resident population and expresses the result per 1,000 residents. Population figures are Department of Provincial Administration civil registration counts by province for December 2024, external to the DBD registry, rounded to the nearest thousand as published. The national average divides the sum of companies across provinces with a mapped province code, 1,986,709, by the national population of 65,951,000. A small number of registry records carry no province code and are excluded from every province total, so the province sum runs slightly below the whole economy company count of 1,989,709. Average revenue per company divides each province's total reported company revenue by its company count.
How we verified this
- Phuket density recomputed as 52,557 companies divided by 430,000 residents times 1,000 equals 122.23 per 1,000 residents, and 122.23 divided by the national average of 30.12 equals 4.06.
- National average density recomputed as the province mapped total of 1,986,709 companies divided by 65,951,000 residents times 1,000 equals 30.12 per 1,000 residents.
- Bangkok density recomputed as 812,799 divided by 5,456,000 times 1,000 equals 148.97 per 1,000 residents, and 148.97 divided by 30.12 equals 4.95.
- Phuket average revenue per company recomputed as 403,669,066,645.01 baht divided by 52,557 companies equals 7,680,596 baht, and that divided by the national per company average of 40,308,763 baht equals 0.19.
- Rayong average revenue per company recomputed as 3,201,564,240,994.13 baht divided by 33,083 companies equals 96,773,698 baht, and that divided by the national per company average equals 2.40, confirming Rayong ranks far below Phuket on density despite ranking far above it on scale.
- Nonthaburi and Chon Buri densities recomputed as 102,370 divided by 1,318,000 times 1,000 equals 77.67, and 127,023 divided by 1,636,000 times 1,000 equals 77.64, confirming the near tie for third place outside Bangkok and Phuket.
References
- Department of Business Development. (2026). Registered juristic persons and financial statement aggregates by province. Ministry of Commerce, Thailand. https://www.dbd.go.th/
- Department of Provincial Administration. (2024). Population and house registration statistics by province, December 2024. Ministry of Interior, Thailand, as compiled in Wikipedia contributors, Provinces of Thailand. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provinces_of_Thailand
Frequently asked questions
Which Thai province has the most registered companies per resident?
Bangkok leads at 148.97 companies per 1,000 residents, the expected result of hosting the national corporate capital. Outside Bangkok, Phuket leads at 122.23 per 1,000 residents, 4.06 times the national average.
Why is Phuket so business dense if it is not a revenue leader?
Phuket's companies average only 7,680,596 baht in revenue each, 0.19 times the national average. Its density comes from a very high count of small tourism related operators rather than a handful of large firms.
How does Phuket compare with Rayong and Samut Prakan, the leaders in revenue per resident?
Rayong ranks seventh on this density list at 42.31 per 1,000 residents, and Samut Prakan ranks fourth at 70.68. Both trail Phuket, showing that revenue density and company density identify different provinces.
What population figures were used?
Department of Provincial Administration civil registration counts by province for December 2024, an external source independent of the DBD company registry.
Cite this page
Chatpong L. (2026). Registered Companies Per Capita by Thai Province (2026). Max Data Insights. https://maxdatathailand.com/insights/registered-companies-per-capita-by-thai-province-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.
Related insights
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.