Thailand vs Brazil Company Registry Size: 1.99M vs 24.2M in 2026
In short
Thailand's registry holds 1,989,709 companies as of 17 July 2026. Half of those with a size band are active, or 993,373. Brazil's CNPJ registry counted 24,213,445 active entities in 2025, about 24 times Thailand's active count. Brazil has roughly three times the people. Per person the gap is still about 7.5 to one. The reason is largely definitional, because Brazil counts branches and individual microentrepreneurs.
Is Thailand's registry small next to Brazil's?
Yes, and by a wide margin. Thailand's Department of Business Development lists 1,989,709 registered companies as of 17 July 2026 (DBD, 2026). Of the 1,986,709 that carry a size band, 993,373 are active. Brazil's federal Mapa de Empresas counted 24,213,445 active companies in the second four-month period of 2025 (Ministério do Desenvolvimento, Indústria, Comércio e Serviços, 2025). That is 24.4 times Thailand's active count. Brazil has about three times the population, so population explains only a fraction of the gap. The rest comes from what each system counts.
Business entities per 1,000 people
- Brazil, active CNPJs114
- Thailand, all registered companies30
- Thailand, active companies15
Figures in entities per 1,000 people.
Population is rounded to 66 million for Thailand and 213 million for Brazil. Brazil's figure includes branches and individual microentrepreneurs.
Thailand and Brazil side by side
| Measure | Thailand | Brazil |
|---|---|---|
| Registered entities | 1,989,709 | Not compared, total includes closed CNPJs |
| Active entities | 993,373 | 24,213,445 |
| Active share of size-banded entities | 50.0% | Not comparable |
| Population assumed, millions | 66 | 213 |
| Active entities per 1,000 people | 15 | 114 |
| Active entities relative to Thailand | 1.0x | 24.4x |
Registry counts and per-person density. Thailand as of 17 Jul 2026, Brazil for the second four-month period of 2025.
Why the two counts are not the same thing
Brazil's total covers headquarters, branches and individual microentrepreneurs, known as MEI. Each of those holds a CNPJ. A shopkeeper with a single stall in Brazil can be one entry. In Thailand, the DBD figure covers registered juristic persons, so branches of one company do not add to the count and most sole traders sit outside it. The comparison is therefore a ceiling on how far apart the economies are, not a measure of it. Thailand's own structure is telling. Micro companies make up 75.1 percent of the size-banded registry, at 1,492,884 firms. Small firms are 22.2 percent. Medium firms are 1.96 percent and large firms just 0.70 percent. Thailand's registry is already dominated by very small businesses, much like a CNPJ base dominated by MEI.
Why this matters
Anyone sizing a Thai market off a Brazilian or global benchmark will overshoot. Multiplying Brazil's density by Thailand's population would suggest 7.5 million Thai businesses. That is roughly 3.8 times the real registry of about two million. The better yardstick for Thailand is the active half. Half of all registered companies are dormant, so a lead list built from raw registry counts wastes about one contact in two. Thailand's real gap with Brazil is smaller than 24 to one, and it is mostly a gap in how informal trade gets recorded.
Definitions
- CNPJ
- Cadastro Nacional da Pessoa Jurídica, Brazil's national taxpayer number for legal entities, including headquarters, branches and individual microentrepreneurs.
- MEI
- Microempreendedor Individual, a Brazilian simplified registration for one-person businesses that receives its own CNPJ.
- Active company
- A registered company with an active status in the registry, as opposed to dormant or inactive.
- Dormant
- A registered company that shows no active status in the registry, though it has not necessarily been struck off.
- Size band
- A micro, small, medium or large classification assigned to a company from its filed figures.
Assumptions
- Population is rounded to 66 million for Thailand and 213 million for Brazil, so per-person figures are estimates.
- Brazil's count includes branches and MEI, and Thailand's does not, so the two are not like for like.
- The Brazilian figure is from the second four-month period of 2025, while the Thai figure is as of 17 July 2026.
- The Thai active share is measured against the 1,986,709 companies with a size band, not all 1,989,709 registered.
Methodology
Thai figures come from the Department of Business Development registry as of 17 July 2026, using the national aggregate table and the industry-code table. Active and dormant counts are summed across five-digit industry codes, and the active share uses the 1,986,709 companies that carry a size band. Brazilian figures are the official active company count from the federal Mapa de Empresas, which includes headquarters, branches and MEI. Population figures are rounded assumptions of 66 million for Thailand and 213 million for Brazil, so per-person values are estimates. Brazil's registry date differs from Thailand's.
How we verified this
- Active share: 993,373 divided by 1,986,709 size-banded companies is 50.0 percent.
- Active and inactive counts summed across industry codes: 993,373 plus 993,336 equals 1,986,709, matching the size-banded total.
- Size bands: 1,492,884 plus 441,008 plus 38,942 plus 13,875 equals 1,986,709. Micro share 75.1 percent, small 22.2 percent, medium 1.96 percent, large 0.70 percent.
- Ratio: 24,213,445 divided by 993,373 is 24.4.
- Density: 993,373 divided by 66,000 thousand people is 15.05 per 1,000. 1,989,709 divided by 66,000 thousand is 30.15. 24,213,445 divided by 213,000 thousand is 113.68.
- Per-person ratio: 113.68 divided by 15.05 is 7.55. Brazil density times 66 million people is about 7.50 million, and 7.50 million divided by 1,989,709 is 3.8.
References
- Department of Business Development. (2026). Registered juristic persons and financial statement aggregates. Ministry of Commerce, Thailand. https://www.dbd.go.th/
- Ministério do Desenvolvimento, Indústria, Comércio e Serviços. (2025). Mapa de Empresas: Relatório do 2º Quadrimestre de 2025. Governo do Brasil. https://www.gov.br/empresas-e-negocios/pt-br/mapa-de-empresas/boletins/mapa-de-empresas-boletim-2o-quadrimestre-2025.pdf
Frequently asked questions
How many companies are registered in Thailand compared with Brazil?
Thailand had 1,989,709 registered companies as of 17 July 2026, and 993,373 of the size-banded ones were active. Brazil had 24,213,445 active CNPJs in the second four-month period of 2025.
Why does Brazil have so many more registered entities?
Brazil's count includes branches and individual microentrepreneurs, each with its own CNPJ. Thailand's DBD count covers registered juristic persons, so it leaves out most sole traders and does not count branches separately.
Does Thailand compare well per person?
Not on raw density. Thailand has about 15 active companies per 1,000 people against about 114 in Brazil. Counting rules explain much of the gap, but not all of it.
Cite this page
Chatpong L. (2026). Thailand vs Brazil Company Registry Size: 1.99M vs 24.2M in 2026. Max Data Insights. https://maxdatathailand.com/insights/thailand-vs-brazil-company-registry-size-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.
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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.