When Each Thai Industry Hit Its Record Profit Year (2026)
In short
Manufacturing earned its record profit in 2022, about 1.09 trillion baht, and its 2025 profit is 16 percent below that. Professional, scientific and technical services peaked in 2016 and now earns just 25 percent of its record. Four of 18 sections set their record in 2025. Thai industries split into those still climbing and those long past their prime, as of 14 August 2026.
Which year did each industry earn its record profit?
It depends on the industry, and the spread is wide. Manufacturing set its record in 2022 at 1,086.2 billion baht (DBD, 2026). Its 2025 profit was 914.0 billion baht. That is 84.1 percent of the peak, so it sits 15.9 percent below it. Financial and insurance peaked a year earlier, in 2021, and now earns 90.7 percent of its record. Then there is professional, scientific and technical services. Its best year was 2016 at 481.8 billion baht. By 2025 it earned 120.4 billion, which is 25.0 percent of the record. Four sections are still at their high: transportation and storage, accommodation and food service, agriculture and education all set records in 2025. The pattern is a split between industries still rising and industries that peaked years ago and never came back.
2025 net profit as a share of each section's record year
- Transportation and storage100
- Accommodation and food service100
- Agriculture100
- Education100
- Construction98
- Wholesale and retail trade95
- Water and waste92
- Human health and social work92
- Financial and insurance91
- Manufacturing84
- Other services70
- Mining and quarrying70
- Real estate67
- Electricity and gas66
- Information and communication59
- Administrative and support53
- Professional, scientific and technical25
Figures in percent of peak profit.
A value of 100 means 2025 was the record. Arts and entertainment is left off the chart because it recorded a loss in 2025.
Record year and 2025 profit by industry section
| Industry section | Record year | Record net profit, billion baht | 2025 net profit, billion baht | 2025 as share of record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing | 2,022 | 1,086 | 914 | 84.1% |
| Financial and insurance | 2,021 | 841 | 763 | 90.7% |
| Professional, scientific and technical | 2,016 | 482 | 120 | 25% |
| Wholesale and retail trade | 2,023 | 450 | 429 | 95.3% |
| Real estate | 2,022 | 173 | 115 | 66.6% |
| Transportation and storage | 2,025 | 134 | 134 | 100% |
| Electricity and gas | 2,023 | 128 | 85 | 66% |
| Information and communication | 2,019 | 120 | 71 | 59% |
| Mining and quarrying | 2,012 | 87 | 61 | 70% |
| Administrative and support | 2,024 | 86 | 45 | 52.6% |
| Construction | 2,016 | 63 | 62 | 98.4% |
| Human health and social work | 2,022 | 62 | 57 | 92.2% |
| Accommodation and food service | 2,025 | 60 | 60 | 100% |
| Agriculture | 2,025 | 12 | 12 | 100% |
| Water and waste | 2,017 | 10 | 10 | 92.3% |
| Education | 2,025 | 8 | 8 | 100% |
| Arts and entertainment | 2,013 | 5 | Loss of 0.3 billion | Below zero |
| Other services | 2,019 | 1 | 1 | 70.2% |
Net profit in billion baht, summed across filed statements, for statement years 2007 to 2025. Data as of 14 Aug 2026.
Why this matters
A single national profit total hides two very different economies. Sections such as transportation, hospitality and agriculture are setting fresh records and can plan around growth. Sections such as professional services, mining and information and communication are working from a smaller base than they once had. Anyone sizing a market, pricing a deal or picking a sector to enter should ask when the sector earned its best year, not only what it earns today. The manufacturing gap of 15.9 percent is a dip from a high plateau. The professional services gap of 75.0 percent looks like a structural shift, and the two should not be treated alike. A sector far below its peak needs a reason to recover, while a sector at its peak needs a reason to keep going. Read the 2025 figures with care, since late filers can still lift the newest year.
Definitions
- Record year
- The statement year in which a section's summed net profit was highest between 2007 and 2025.
- Share of peak
- Net profit in 2025 divided by net profit in the record year, shown as a percent.
- Industry section
- One of the lettered top-level groups of the Thailand Standard Industrial Classification, for example C for manufacturing.
- Net profit
- Revenue minus all costs, taxes and interest, as reported in a filed financial statement.
Assumptions
- Only companies that filed a financial statement contribute to profit.
- The 2025 statement year may still be filling in, which would understate current profit.
- Figures are nominal baht and are not adjusted for inflation.
- The 2018 registry expansion can distort single-year levels, so the analysis relies on each section's own peak ratio.
- Sections T and U have no reported data.
Methodology
Net profit is summed from the filed financial statements of companies in the DBD registry, grouped by 5-digit industry code and rolled up to the 18 lettered industry sections that have data, as of 14 August 2026. Statement years are converted from the Buddhist calendar to Gregorian, covering 2007 to 2025. The incomplete 2026 year is excluded. The record year is the year with the highest summed net profit in each section. Figures are not adjusted for inflation. Note that the registry expanded in 2018, so single-year levels are best read as ratios to each section's own peak.
How we verified this
- Manufacturing: 913,980,388,287 divided by 1,086,237,848,274 equals 0.8414, so 84.1 percent of peak and 15.9 percent below, which rounds to the 16 percent in the brief.
- Professional, scientific and technical: 120,357,248,153 divided by 481,818,620,943 equals 0.2498, so 25.0 percent of peak and 75.0 percent below.
- Financial and insurance: 762,919,311,715 divided by 841,405,305,158 equals 0.9067, so 90.7 percent.
- Record year equals 2025 for four sections: transportation and storage, accommodation and food service, agriculture and education, each at 100.0 percent.
- Seven sections have a record year of 2019 or earlier: mining 2012, arts 2013, professional services 2016, construction 2016, water and waste 2017, information and communication 2019, other services 2019.
- Arts and entertainment 2025 net profit of negative 272,048,181 baht was excluded from the chart and shown as a loss in the table.
- Query computed_at was 2026-08-14, newer than the 2026-07-07 anchor in the data guide, so dataAsOf uses 2026-08-14. Sections T and U have no data and are excluded, leaving 18.
References
- Department of Business Development. (2026). Registered juristic persons and financial statement aggregates. Ministry of Commerce, Thailand. https://www.dbd.go.th/
Frequently asked questions
Which Thai industry earned the most profit in a single year?
Manufacturing, with about 1,086.2 billion baht in 2022, the largest section record in the registry.
Which industry is furthest below its record profit?
Among sections still profitable, professional, scientific and technical services, at 25.0 percent of its 2016 peak. Arts and entertainment recorded a loss in 2025 against a 2013 record.
Which industries are at a record now?
Transportation and storage, accommodation and food service, agriculture and education all set their record profit in 2025.
Is the 2025 figure final?
Not necessarily. Some companies file late, so the newest year can rise as more statements arrive.
Cite this page
Chatpong L. (2026). When Each Thai Industry Hit Its Record Profit Year (2026). Max Data Insights. https://maxdatathailand.com/insights/when-each-thai-industry-section-hit-its-record-profit-year-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.