Thailand vs Mexico, Turkey and Chile: Companies per 1,000 (2026)
In short
Thailand has 27.75 registered companies per 1,000 residents as of 17 July 2026. Its new-company pace, 2.43 per 1,000 working-age people in 2020, beats Turkey at 1.77. Mexico trails at 0.79. Chile leads the group at 12.11, almost five times Thailand's pace. A big registry is not the same as fast company formation.
How does Thailand compare with Mexico, Turkey and Chile?
Thailand sits second of the four on new-company formation. The registry holds 1,989,709 companies, which works out to 27.75 per 1,000 residents (DBD, 2026). That is a stock figure, and the World Bank does not publish a matching stock for the three peers. What it does publish is new business density, the number of new limited liability companies registered in a year per 1,000 people ages 15 to 64. On that flow measure, Thailand registered 2.43 in 2020. Chile registered 12.11. Turkey registered 1.77. Mexico registered 0.79 (World Bank, 2020). Thailand formed about three times as many companies per working-age person as Mexico did. Chile formed about five times as many as Thailand.
New company registrations per 1,000 people ages 15 to 64, 2020
- Chile12
- Thailand2
- Turkey2
- Mexico1
Figures in new companies per 1,000 working-age people.
Thailand figure computed from DBD founding counts. Peer figures from the World Bank.
The four countries side by side
| Country | New companies per 1,000 ages 15 to 64, 2020 | Multiple of Mexico |
|---|---|---|
| Chile | 12.11 | 15.3 |
| Thailand | 2.43 | 3.1 |
| Turkey | 1.77 | 2.2 |
| Mexico | 0.79 | 1.0 |
New business density in 2020. Thailand also shown as a stock of registered companies per 1,000 residents.
Why the stock and the flow disagree
A big stock does not mean fast formation. Thailand's 27.75 companies per 1,000 residents reflects decades of registrations, and about half of the 1,986,709 companies with a size band are dormant, at 993,336 (DBD, 2026). As of 17 July 2026 the registry counted 122,427 companies founded in 2020 alone. Divide that by 50,329 thousand people ages 15 to 64 and you get the 2.43 shown above. The population base is the 2023 estimate, so the true 2020 ratio is slightly different. Chile's lead may partly reflect how cheap and simple incorporation is there, though this page cannot measure that effect.
Why this matters
Thailand is not a laggard on company formation, and it is not a leader either. It sits in the middle, closer to the large emerging peers than to Chile. That matters for anyone sizing a Thai market from registry counts. A registry with 1.99 million entries overstates the number of operating businesses, and a ranking built on new registrations rewards countries that make incorporation cheap. Read both measures together before drawing a conclusion about entrepreneurship.
Definitions
- New business density
- New limited liability companies registered in a year per 1,000 people ages 15 to 64.
- Stock
- The total count of companies on a registry at a point in time.
- Flow
- The number of companies added to a registry during a period.
- Dormant
- A registered company that no longer operates in practice but remains on the register.
Assumptions
- The 2023 working-age population stands in for 2020, which slightly shifts the Thai ratio.
- DBD founding counts include every juristic person type, while World Bank counts limited liability companies, so the Thai figure is not perfectly like for like.
- Registry rules differ by country, so density partly reflects how easy incorporation is.
Methodology
Thailand's registered company count and 2020 founding count come from the Department of Business Development registry, queried as of 17 July 2026. Residents per 1,000 uses the World Bank 2023 population of 71,702,435. Working-age density uses the 2023 population ages 15 to 64 of 50,329 thousand as an approximation for 2020. Peer values are World Bank new business density for 2020, which counts new limited liability companies. DBD founding counts cover all registered juristic persons, so the Thai figure is an estimate and is not perfectly like for like.
How we verified this
- Registered companies per 1,000 residents: 1,989,709 divided by 71,702,435, times 1,000, equals 27.75.
- Thailand new-company density: 122,427 divided by 50,329,420, times 1,000, equals 2.43.
- Thailand versus Mexico: 2.43 divided by 0.79 equals 3.08.
- Chile versus Thailand: 12.11 divided by 2.43 equals 4.98.
- Multiples of Mexico in the table: Chile 12.11 divided by 0.79 equals 15.3, Turkey 1.77 divided by 0.79 equals 2.2.
References
- Department of Business Development. (2026). Registered juristic persons and financial statement aggregates. Ministry of Commerce, Thailand. https://www.dbd.go.th/
- World Bank. (2020). New business density, new registrations per 1,000 people ages 15 to 64 [Data set]. World Development Indicators. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/IC.BUS.NDNS.ZS
Frequently asked questions
How many registered companies does Thailand have per 1,000 residents?
27.75, from 1,989,709 registered companies and a 2023 population of 71,702,435.
Does Thailand form more new companies than Mexico or Turkey?
Yes. Thailand registered 2.43 new companies per 1,000 working-age people in 2020, against 1.77 for Turkey and 0.79 for Mexico.
Why is Chile so far ahead?
Chile registered 12.11 new companies per 1,000 working-age people in 2020. Easy, low-cost incorporation may explain part of the gap, but this page does not measure it.
Can the registered stock be compared with the peers directly?
Not here. The World Bank offers a comparable flow measure for the peers but no matching stock, so this page compares new registrations.
Cite this page
Chatpong L. (2026). Thailand vs Mexico, Turkey and Chile: Companies per 1,000 (2026). Max Data Insights. https://maxdatathailand.com/insights/thailand-vs-mexico-turkey-chile-registered-companies-per-1000-residents-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.