Return on Equity by Industry in Thailand (2026)
In short
Education earns the highest return on equity in Thailand at 12.31 percent as of 2 July 2026. Human health follows at 11.17 percent, then transportation and storage at 10.37 percent. Nine of the fifteen tracked sectors beat the national average of 6.30 percent. Construction sits last at 2.15 percent. Profit margin ranked these sectors one way. How hard each one works the owners' money looks nothing alike.
Which industry gives the best return on equity?
Ranked by return on equity, education leads Thailand at 12.31 percent as of 2 July 2026 (DBD, 2026). Human health comes second at 11.17 percent. Transportation and storage takes third at 10.37 percent. Manufacturing follows close behind at 9.84 percent. The national average is 6.30 percent, and nine of the fifteen sectors clear it. Compare that with the profit margin ranking, where finance stood apart from everything else. Return on equity asks a sharper question. It measures how hard a sector works the money its owners put in, not how much it keeps from each baht of sales.
Return on equity by industry section
- Education12
- Human health11
- Transportation and storage10
- Manufacturing10
- Professional and technical10
- Electricity and gas8
- Financial and insurance8
- Mining7
- Accommodation and food service7
- Administrative and support5
- Information and communication4
- Agriculture3
- Wholesale and retail3
- Real estate3
- Construction2
Figures in percent return on equity.
Education, health and transport top the table. Construction and real estate, both heavy in fixed assets, sit at the bottom despite their size.
Every sector ranked against the national average
| Industry section | Return on equity | Vs 6.30% average |
|---|---|---|
| Education | 12.31% | +6.01 pts |
| Human health | 11.17% | +4.87 pts |
| Transportation and storage | 10.37% | +4.07 pts |
| Manufacturing | 9.84% | +3.54 pts |
| Professional and technical | 9.76% | +3.46 pts |
| Electricity and gas | 7.84% | +1.54 pts |
| Financial and insurance | 7.84% | +1.54 pts |
| Mining | 7.40% | +1.10 pts |
| Accommodation and food service | 7.00% | +0.70 pts |
| Administrative and support | 4.81% | -1.49 pts |
| Information and communication | 4.20% | -2.10 pts |
| Agriculture | 3.40% | -2.90 pts |
| Wholesale and retail | 3.21% | -3.09 pts |
| Real estate | 2.75% | -3.55 pts |
| Construction | 2.15% | -4.15 pts |
Return on equity by industry section and the gap to the 6.30 percent national average, as of 2 Jul 2026.
Why this ranking flips the margin story
Return on equity rewards two things: a thin equity base and an asset-light business. Education and professional services need little fixed capital to operate, so a given profit spreads over a small pile of owner equity and the return reads high. Construction and real estate are the mirror image. They lock up enormous equity in land, in half-finished projects and in long build cycles, so even respectable profits shrink to a return near two percent. The Bank of Thailand has flagged how widely borrowing varies across Thai firms, and how far heavy debt can stretch a balance sheet (Bank of Thailand, 2024). That matters, because debt magnifies return on equity in ways a margin figure never shows. For an owner asking where a fresh baht of capital works hardest, the profit margin table can point the wrong way. Return on equity is the number that answers the question they actually asked.
Definitions
- Return on equity
- Net profit as a share of shareholder equity. A twelve percent return means twelve satang of profit a year for every baht of owner capital in the business.
- Shareholder equity
- The owners' stake in a company, equal to total assets minus total liabilities, as reported on the filed balance sheet.
- Aggregate ratio
- Total sector net profit divided by total sector equity, rather than the average of each company's own return on equity.
- TSIC section
- A broad industry grouping in the Thailand Standard Industrial Classification, such as education, manufacturing or construction.
- Percentage point
- The plain difference between two percentages. Moving from 6.30 percent to 12.31 percent is a gain of 6.01 percentage points.
Assumptions
- Only companies that filed a financial statement contribute to a sector's return on equity.
- Sectors carry very different amounts of fixed assets and debt, so a low return on equity does not by itself mean weak management.
- Sections with too few reporting companies for a stable ratio are excluded, so the table is limited to fifteen sections.
Methodology
Return on equity is aggregate net profit divided by aggregate shareholder equity for every company in a TSIC industry section that filed a financial statement, drawn from the Department of Business Development registry as of 2 July 2026. Figures are section-wide aggregates, not the average of each company's own ratio. The national average is the all-sector aggregate at 6.30 percent. Sections with too few reporting companies to give a stable ratio are left out, so the table shows fifteen sections.
How we verified this
- Education was confirmed as the maximum return on equity in the sector list at 12.31 percent.
- Construction was confirmed as the minimum at 2.15 percent, the lowest of the fifteen sections.
- The national average of 6.30 percent was checked against every sector: nine sections beat it and six trailed it, which sums to the fifteen tracked.
- The top to bottom gap recomputes as 12.31 minus 2.15, or 10.16 percentage points, and each Vs average figure recomputes as the sector value minus 6.30.
References
- Department of Business Development. (2026). Registered juristic persons and financial statement aggregates. Ministry of Commerce, Thailand. https://www.dbd.go.th/
- Bank of Thailand. (2024). Financial stability report 2024. Bank of Thailand. https://www.bot.or.th/content/dam/bot/documents/en/research-and-publications/reports/financial-stability-report/FSR2024e.pdf
Frequently asked questions
Which industry has the highest return on equity in Thailand?
Education, at 12.31 percent, the highest of any tracked sector as of 2 July 2026.
How many sectors beat the national average?
Nine of the fifteen tracked sectors returned more than the 6.30 percent national average, from education at 12.31 percent down to accommodation and food service at 7.00 percent.
Why do construction and real estate score so low?
Both tie up large amounts of equity in land and long projects, so their profits spread thin and return on equity lands near two to three percent.
Is the highest return on equity the same as the highest profit margin?
No. Finance led on profit margin, but education leads on return on equity, because the two measures reward different things about a business.
Cite this page
Chatpong L. (2026). Return on Equity by Industry in Thailand (2026). Max Data Insights. https://maxdatathailand.com/insights/return-on-equity-by-industry-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.