Thai Industry Sections With No Down Year in Revenue (2026)
In short
Three of Thailand's 18 tracked industry sections grew revenue every single year for six straight years, from 2020 through 2025, with zero down years. Wholesale and retail trade rose in each of those years, ending 90.2 percent higher than where it started. Professional, scientific and technical services grew 41.3 percent over the same stretch. Human health and social work climbed 72.2 percent and posted the highest company survival rate of the three, at 73.9 percent. The other 15 sections each hit at least one down year somewhere along the way.
Which industry sections never had a down year?
Three sections out of 18 tracked in the registry, wholesale and retail trade, professional and technical services, and human health and social work, grew total revenue in every one of the last six statement years (DBD, 2026). A down year is any year a section's revenue came in below the year before. None of these three had one, from 2020 through 2025. Wholesale and retail trade, the sector with the most registered companies in Thailand at 715,976 entities, still managed the steepest climb of the three, up 90.2 percent over the period. Human health and social work grew 72.2 percent. Professional, scientific and technical services grew 41.3 percent, the slowest of the three but still unbroken. Every other section in the economy, 15 of 18, stumbled at least once in the same window.
Six-year revenue growth, the three zero-down-year sections
- Wholesale and retail trade90
- Human health and social work72
- Professional, scientific and technical41
Figures in percent cumulative growth, 2020 to 2025.
All three climbed every single year. Wholesale and retail trade compounded the fastest, human health held the steadiest year-over-year pace.
Year-over-year revenue growth, the perfect streaks
| Section | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wholesale and retail trade | 7.8% | 23.0% | 7.2% | 13.2% | 18.2% |
| Human health and social work | 28.3% | 18.4% | 2.5% | 7.3% | 3.1% |
| Professional, scientific and technical | 2.3% | 15.6% | 9.2% | 5.5% | 3.8% |
Percent change in aggregate section revenue versus the year before, statement years 2021 to 2025, as of 17 Jul 2026.
Two sections broke their streak on the very last year
Water supply and waste management and transportation and storage each grew for four straight years, 2021 through 2024, then slipped in 2025. Water and waste fell 1.3 percent in 2025. Transportation and storage fell 2.0 percent. Financial and insurance activities had the roughest single year of any section, down 20.8 percent in 2025 alone, after growing in three of the previous four years. Education and arts and entertainment each broke their streak early instead, both posting a decline in 2021 before recovering every year since. No section outside the top three strung together all six years.
Why this matters
A single strong year can happen to any sector on the back of one large filer or one good contract cycle. Six straight years without a down year is a different claim. It means demand held up through a currency squeeze, a tourism recovery, and an interest rate cycle, in a section made up of hundreds of thousands of separate companies rather than one large filer. Wholesale and retail trade, the least profitable major sector by net margin, still delivered the most reliable top line in the economy. That is the split worth watching. Growth and profitability describe different things, and this data shows the sections that people actually kept buying from, every single year, are not always the ones keeping the most of what they earn.
Definitions
- Down year
- A statement year in which a section's aggregate reported revenue was lower than the previous statement year.
- Industry section
- One of the lettered top-level groupings in Thailand's TSIC industry classification, such as G for wholesale and retail trade or Q for human health and social work.
- Aggregate revenue
- The sum of reported revenue across all companies in a section that filed a financial statement for that year, not an average of individual companies.
- Cumulative growth
- The total percent change in aggregate revenue from the first year of the window, 2020, to the last, 2025, compounded across all five intervening years.
Assumptions
- Analysis uses statement years 2020 through 2025, the most recent six years with complete registry coverage, excluding the still-filling 2026 statement year.
- A section's yearly revenue reflects every company that filed for that year, not a fixed panel of the same companies followed across all six years, since new companies file and closed ones drop out.
- Financial and insurance and real estate activities both grew in most years but are excluded from the zero-down-year group because each posted at least one decline within the six-year window.
Methodology
Revenue by industry section is the sum of total reported revenue for every company in that section with a filed financial statement, drawn from the DBD registry as of 17 July 2026. A down year is defined as any statement year in which a section's aggregate revenue was lower than the prior statement year. Six statement years were checked, 2020 through 2025, giving five year-over-year comparisons per section. Section codes O, public administration, T, households as employers, and U, extraterritorial organizations, are excluded because they carry no meaningful company revenue in the registry, leaving 18 tracked sections. Figures are aggregate totals across all reporting companies in a section in a given year, not a fixed panel followed across all six years and not the average of individual company growth rates, so entry and exit of filers can move the total alongside underlying demand.
How we verified this
- Wholesale and retail trade year-over-year changes recomputed from raw revenue for 2021 through 2025: plus 7.8, 23.0, 7.2, 13.2 and 18.2 percent, all positive, confirming zero down years.
- Human health and social work year-over-year changes recomputed from raw revenue: plus 28.3, 18.4, 2.5, 7.3 and 3.1 percent, all positive.
- Professional, scientific and technical year-over-year changes recomputed from raw revenue: plus 2.3, 15.6, 9.2, 5.5 and 3.8 percent, all positive.
- Six-year cumulative growth recomputed directly from the 2020 and 2025 revenue endpoints: wholesale and retail 90.2 percent, human health 72.2 percent, professional and technical 41.3 percent.
- Share of sections with zero down years recomputed as 3 divided by 18 tracked sections, equal to 16.7 percent, leaving 15 of 18 sections, 83.3 percent, with at least one down year in the same window.
- Wholesale and retail trade entity count confirmed against the registry at 715,976 companies, the highest of any section.
- Survival rate recomputed for the three zero down year sections from active and inactive company counts: human health 73.9 percent, professional and technical 58.5 percent, wholesale and retail trade 45.5 percent, confirming human health has the highest of the three.
References
- Department of Business Development. (2026). Registered juristic persons and financial statement aggregates. Ministry of Commerce, Thailand. https://www.dbd.go.th/
- National Economic and Social Development Council. (2025). Thai economic performance in Q2 of 2025 and the outlook for 2025. https://www.nesdc.go.th/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/05.-PRESSENG-Q2-2025-Final-edit.pdf
Frequently asked questions
Which Thai industry sections grew revenue every year for six straight years?
Wholesale and retail trade, professional and technical services, and human health and social work. Each posted higher aggregate revenue in every statement year from 2020 through 2025, with zero down years.
How many of Thailand's industry sections did not have a perfect growth streak?
15 of the 18 tracked sections, 83.3 percent, had at least one year where revenue came in below the year before, somewhere in the six-year window.
Which section came closest to a perfect streak without completing it?
Water supply and waste management, and transportation and storage, each grew for four straight years from 2021 through 2024, then slipped in 2025, the most recent year on record.
Is the section with zero down years also the most profitable one?
No. Wholesale and retail trade has the longest unbroken revenue streak of any section but the thinnest net margin in the economy, showing growth and profitability are separate measures.
Cite this page
Chatpong L. (2026). Thai Industry Sections With No Down Year in Revenue (2026). Max Data Insights. https://maxdatathailand.com/insights/thai-industry-sections-with-no-down-year-in-revenue-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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