Thai Industries With the Most Distorted Size Mix (2026)
In short
Human health and social work has the most distorted company size mix in Thailand, sitting 14.6 percentage points from the national mix as of 17 July 2026. Mining and quarrying is next at 10.2 points, then real estate at 8.5. Nationally 0.7% of companies are large, but electricity and gas reaches 2.4% and financial and insurance 1.6%. Wholesale and retail trade is the closest to the national shape at just 1.1 points.
Which industry sections look least like the national mix?
Human health and social work looks least like Thailand. Only 60.7% of its companies are micro, against 75.1% nationally (DBD, 2026). Its small share is 36.4%, against 22.2% for the whole economy. Mining and quarrying is next, but for the opposite reason: 85.3% micro and only 12.0% small. Real estate follows with 83.6% micro. Distance here is the share of a section's companies that would have to change size band to match the national mix, so 14.6 means almost one company in seven is in the "wrong" band.
Distance from the national size mix by industry section
- Human health and social work15
- Mining and quarrying10
- Real estate9
- Agriculture8
- Water and waste7
- Education7
- Transportation and storage7
- Financial and insurance6
- Manufacturing6
- Arts and entertainment6
- Other services5
- Electricity and gas5
- Information and communication4
- Accommodation and food service4
- Construction3
- Professional, scientific and technical3
- Administrative and support2
- Wholesale and retail trade1
Figures in percentage points from national mix.
Larger bars mean a size mix further from 75.1% micro, 22.2% small, 2.0% medium and 0.7% large.
Size mix by industry section, ranked by distance
| Industry section | Companies | Micro % | Small % | Medium % | Large % | Distance, points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Human health and social work | 17,294 | 61 | 36 | 2 | 1 | 15 |
| Mining and quarrying | 8,231 | 85 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 10 |
| Real estate | 149,618 | 84 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 9 |
| Agriculture | 19,259 | 82 | 14 | 3 | 1 | 8 |
| Water and waste | 4,818 | 68 | 27 | 4 | 1 | 7 |
| Education | 13,897 | 82 | 18 | 1 | 0 | 7 |
| Transportation and storage | 85,303 | 69 | 29 | 2 | 1 | 7 |
| Financial and insurance | 35,577 | 81 | 16 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| Manufacturing | 230,396 | 69 | 26 | 4 | 2 | 6 |
| Arts and entertainment | 18,486 | 81 | 18 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
| Other services | 20,455 | 81 | 19 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| Electricity and gas | 7,833 | 77 | 17 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| Information and communication | 52,537 | 79 | 19 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| Accommodation and food service | 83,608 | 73 | 26 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| Construction | 283,564 | 78 | 21 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Professional, scientific and technical | 138,982 | 78 | 21 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Administrative and support | 100,711 | 74 | 24 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Wholesale and retail trade | 716,066 | 74 | 23 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
Share of companies in each size band and distance from the national mix, as of 17 Jul 2026. Sections with fewer than 1,000 companies are excluded.
Two kinds of distortion
The sections split into two camps. Health, water and waste, transport and manufacturing lean toward bigger firms. Manufacturing has 2.0% large companies, nearly three times the national 0.7%. Mining, real estate, agriculture and education lean the other way, toward the micro end. Education has just 0.1% large companies. The capital-heavy sections tell a different story. Electricity and gas has 2.4% large companies, the highest large share of any section. Financial and insurance has 1.6%, more than double the national figure. Both still rank mid-table on total distance, because most of their companies are micro like everywhere else. A thin top tier is a different kind of distortion from a missing middle.
Why this matters
Policy aimed at "SMEs" treats the economy as one shape, and the register says it is not. A credit programme for small firms reaches 36.4% of health companies but only 12.0% of mining ones. A scheme for micro firms covers 83.6% of real estate but 67.9% of water and waste. The size mix also shows where a bigger middle exists. Health and transport have small bands above 28%, while mining and real estate stay overwhelmingly micro. Wholesale and retail trade, the biggest section by count, is almost a perfect copy of the national mix. It makes up 36.0% of all companies, so it shapes the benchmark it is measured against. Read the national mix as an average, not a norm.
Definitions
- Size band
- The registry classification of a company as micro, small, medium or large.
- Distance from national mix
- Half the sum of absolute gaps between a section's size shares and the national shares, in percentage points. It equals the share of companies that would need to change band to match the national mix.
- Aggregate
- A total or share computed across all companies in a group rather than an average of individual companies.
- Industry section
- One of the lettered top-level groups of the Thai industry classification, such as A for agriculture.
Assumptions
- Sections are summed from 5-digit industry counts, so the national total of 1,986,709 can differ by a few hundred companies from other national tallies.
- Size bands reflect the registry classification, which can lag a company's real size.
- Distance measures difference from the national average, not from any ideal mix.
- Companies without a size band are excluded.
Methodology
Size bands come from the DBD registry as of 17 July 2026, counted by 5-digit industry code and summed to 18 lettered sections. Each section's share of micro, small, medium and large companies is compared with the national share across the same 1,986,709 companies that have a size band. Distance is half the sum of the absolute gaps in the four shares, in percentage points. Public administration, households and extraterritorial bodies are excluded because each has under 1,000 companies. Size bands are the registry's own classification.
How we verified this
- National size mix recomputed from summed section counts: 1,492,884 micro, 441,008 small, 38,942 medium and 13,875 large over 1,986,709, giving 75.1%, 22.2%, 2.0% and 0.7%.
- Human health and social work: 10,499 micro, 6,299 small, 318 medium, 178 large over 17,294 gives 60.7, 36.4, 1.8 and 1.0 percent, and half the sum of gaps is 14.6 points.
- Electricity and gas: 191 large over 7,833 companies is 2.4%. Financial and insurance: 556 large over 35,577 is 1.6%.
- Wholesale and retail trade: 529,921 micro over 716,066 is 74.0%, and the distance recomputes to 1.1 points.
- Wholesale and retail trade: 716,066 over 1,986,709 is 36.0% of all companies. Row counts per section were summed across four bands and matched the company count shown in the table.
References
- Department of Business Development. (2026). Registered juristic persons and size band aggregates, as of 17 July 2026. Ministry of Commerce, Thailand. https://www.dbd.go.th/
Frequently asked questions
Which Thai industry section has the most unusual size mix?
Human health and social work, at 14.6 percentage points from the national mix as of 17 July 2026.
Which section has the highest share of large companies?
Electricity and gas, where 2.4% of companies are large against 0.7% nationally.
Which section is closest to the national mix?
Wholesale and retail trade, at 1.1 points, followed by administrative and support at 2.2 points.
How is distance from the national mix measured?
It is half the sum of the absolute gaps between a section's four size shares and the national shares, in percentage points.
Cite this page
Chatpong L. (2026). Thai Industries With the Most Distorted Size Mix (2026). Max Data Insights. https://maxdatathailand.com/insights/thai-industry-sections-with-the-most-distorted-size-mix-vs-the-national-register-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.