Thai Industries Beating the National Net Margin Most Years, 2026
In short
Five Thai industry sections beat the national net margin in every one of the 19 years from 2007 to 2025. They are financial and insurance, professional services, electricity and gas, human health, and water and waste. Mining missed only twice, in 2015 and 2016. Wholesale and retail, the largest sector by company count, never won a single year. Consistency, not one big year, separates the reliable earners from the rest.
Which industries beat the national margin most often?
Five sections never lost. Financial and insurance, professional, scientific and technical services, electricity and gas, human health and social work, and water supply and waste all beat the national net margin in each of the 19 statement years from 2007 to 2025 (DBD, 2026). Mining and quarrying came close with 17 wins. It missed only 2015 and 2016. Education won 15 years. Real estate won 14. Then the table falls off a cliff. Manufacturing won just 4 years. Construction won 1. Wholesale and retail won none.
Years beating the national net margin, 2007 to 2025
- Financial and insurance19
- Professional, scientific and technical19
- Electricity and gas19
- Human health and social work19
- Water supply and waste19
- Mining and quarrying17
- Education15
- Real estate14
- Information and communication13
- Administrative and support12
- Transportation and storage11
- Manufacturing4
- Arts and entertainment4
- Accommodation and food service2
- Construction1
- Other services1
- Wholesale and retail trade0
- Agriculture0
Figures in years won out of 19.
A win means the section's net margin in a statement year was higher than the national net margin in that same year.
Wins, pooled margin and smallest yearly sample by section
| Industry section | Years beating national | Pooled net margin | Fewest companies in any year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Financial and insurance | 19 | 21.44% | 6,584 |
| Professional, scientific and technical | 19 | 15.39% | 20,205 |
| Electricity and gas | 19 | 14.05% | 483 |
| Human health and social work | 19 | 11.54% | 1,218 |
| Water supply and waste | 19 | 11.14% | 603 |
| Mining and quarrying | 17 | 17.91% | 1,402 |
| Education | 15 | 8.0% | 1,612 |
| Real estate | 14 | 8.79% | 32,455 |
| Information and communication | 13 | 7.02% | 6,701 |
| Administrative and support | 12 | 4.5% | 15,130 |
| Transportation and storage | 11 | 3.88% | 12,286 |
| Manufacturing | 4 | 4.02% | 52,114 |
| Arts and entertainment | 4 | -1.97% | 1,564 |
| Accommodation and food service | 2 | -1.11% | 10,853 |
| Construction | 1 | 2.28% | 38,056 |
| Other services | 1 | 0.1% | 1,848 |
| Wholesale and retail trade | 0 | 1.82% | 109,955 |
| Agriculture | 0 | 1.04% | 1,709 |
Wins out of 19 statement years, 2007 to 2025 CE, with the section margin pooled across all years. Registry data as of 14 Aug 2026.
Why counting wins beats picking a record year
A single record year can come from one giant company. A 19-year win streak cannot. The national margin hit its lowest point of 2.58 percent in 2019. It peaked at 6.62 percent in 2016. The always-winning sections stayed ahead through both. The bad year is revealing. In 2019 construction and other services each recorded their only win of the period. Their edge looks like a weak comparison year, not a strength. Two of the five perfect sections are small on the ground. Electricity and gas had 483 companies in its thinnest year. Water and waste had 603. With so few firms, one large company can move the result, so treat those two streaks with more caution than the streaks of financial and professional services.
Why this matters
Investors, lenders and buyers of Thai businesses often quote one good year. The registry shows which sectors repeat. Sectors with utility-like or expertise-based revenue cleared the national margin in every year. The high-volume sectors almost never did. Wholesale and retail holds the largest company count and zero wins. That is a warning for anyone pricing a trading business against the economy-wide average. The pooled national margin of 4.59 percent is also a bar that trading and farming firms did not clear in any year, since their pooled margins are 1.82 and 1.04 percent.
Definitions
- Net margin
- Net profit as a share of revenue. A five percent margin means five satang of profit for each baht of revenue.
- National net margin
- Total net profit of all companies with a filed statement in a year, divided by their total revenue for that year.
- Win
- A statement year in which a section's net margin was higher than the national net margin for that year.
- Pooled margin
- Total profit divided by total revenue across all 19 years for a section.
- Aggregate
- A total or ratio computed across all companies in a group, not an average of company margins.
Assumptions
- Only companies that filed a statement in a given year contribute to that year.
- The national margin comes from the year table and section margins come from the code-year table, so small differences in coverage are possible.
- Financial and insurance revenue is recognised differently from trading revenue, so its margin is not directly comparable.
- Sections with few companies in a year, such as electricity and gas with 483, can be moved by one large company.
- The registry rows used were computed on different dates, and 14 August 2026 is the latest.
Methodology
Source: Department of Business Development registry of filed financial statements, aggregates as of 14 August 2026, the latest computation date among the rows used. Section totals for each statement year are rolled up from 5-digit industry code by year records by summing revenue and net profit, then mapping each code to its lettered section. A section wins a year when its net margin, meaning net profit divided by revenue, is higher than the national net margin for the same year. Statement years are converted from the Buddhist calendar, so 2550 to 2568 becomes 2007 to 2025. The incomplete 2026 year is excluded. Households and extraterritorial sections are omitted because they have too few companies. The pooled margin is total profit over total revenue across all 19 years. Individual years can be shifted by a few very large companies.
How we verified this
- National margin recomputed from year totals: 2019 profit 1,239,490,962,185.96 divided by revenue 48,115,967,905,411.14 equals 2.58 percent, the lowest year.
- National margin recomputed for 2016: 2,812,658,260,836.27 divided by 42,505,202,813,303.42 equals 6.62 percent, the highest year.
- Pooled national margin 2007 to 2025 recomputed as summed net profit over summed revenue, which equals 4.59 percent.
- Win counts across 18 full-coverage sections sum to 189 out of 342 section-years, or 55.3 percent, and the five perfect sections account for 95 of them.
- Mining wins 17 of 19 years, or 89.5 percent, with misses in 2015 and 2016. Manufacturing wins 4 of 19, or 21.1 percent.
References
- Department of Business Development. (2026). Registered juristic persons and financial statement aggregates, statement years 2007 to 2025. Ministry of Commerce, Thailand. https://www.dbd.go.th/
Frequently asked questions
Which Thai industries beat the national net margin every year from 2007 to 2025?
Financial and insurance, professional scientific and technical, electricity and gas, human health and social work, and water supply and waste each beat it in all 19 years (DBD, 2026).
Did any large sector never beat the national margin?
Yes. Wholesale and retail trade, the largest sector by company count, won 0 of 19 years, and agriculture also won none.
Why do some sectors win only in 2019?
The national margin dropped to 2.58 percent in 2019, its lowest point since 2007. Construction and other services each cleared that low bar once.
Is a pooled margin the same as an average of yearly margins?
No. It is total profit divided by total revenue over all 19 years, so larger years weigh more.
Cite this page
Chatpong L. (2026). Thai Industries Beating the National Net Margin Most Years, 2026. Max Data Insights. https://maxdatathailand.com/insights/thai-industry-sections-that-beat-the-national-net-margin-most-years-2007-2025
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.