Water and Waste Has Thailand's Longest Profit Streak (2026)
In short
Water and waste's aggregate net profit rose for 7 straight statement years, from 2007 through 2014, the longest unbroken growth streak of any Thai industry section on record. Electricity and gas, real estate, education, and human health each managed 6 consecutive rising years, one short of the top spot. Only 5 of Thailand's 18 fully tracked industry sections have ever strung together 6 or more straight years of climbing profit. Mining and quarrying, a resource-heavy section, swung to an aggregate loss in 2015 before rebounding, proof that even large sectors rarely climb without interruption.
Which Thai industry section has the longest run of rising profit?
Water and waste holds Thailand's longest profit growth streak of any industry section (DBD, 2026). Its aggregate net profit climbed for 7 straight statement years, from 2007 through 2014, without a single down year in between. No other section among the 18 with a complete statement year record since 2007 has matched that run. Four sections tie for second place at 6 consecutive rising years each: electricity and gas, real estate, education, and human health and social work. Just 5 of the 18 sections have ever climbed for 6 years or longer without a break. The rest topped out at 5 years or fewer, and mining and quarrying and transportation and storage never strung together more than 2 rising years in a row.
Longest year-over-year profit growth streak by industry section, 2007 to 2025
- Water and waste7
- Electricity and gas6
- Real estate6
- Education6
- Human health and social work6
- Professional, scientific and technical5
- Accommodation and food service4
- Administrative and support4
- Arts and entertainment4
- Agriculture, forestry and fishing3
- Manufacturing3
- Construction3
- Wholesale and retail trade3
- Information and communication3
- Financial and insurance3
- Other service activities3
- Mining and quarrying2
- Transportation and storage2
Figures in consecutive years of rising net profit.
Water and waste stands alone at 7. Mining and quarrying and transportation and storage never managed more than 2 years in a row.
Longest profit growth streak by industry section, 2007 to 2025
| Industry section | Growth streak, years | Streak period | Net profit change over streak |
|---|---|---|---|
| Water and waste | 7 | 2007 to 2014 | +284.1% |
| Electricity and gas | 6 | 2011 to 2017 | +261.4% |
| Real estate | 6 | 2008 to 2014 | +1,025.0% |
| Education | 6 | 2007 to 2013 | +265.7% |
| Human health and social work | 6 | 2013 to 2019 | +113.0% |
| Professional, scientific and technical | 5 | 2009 to 2014 | +179.8% |
| Accommodation and food service | 4 | 2021 to 2025 | loss to profit |
| Administrative and support | 4 | 2008 to 2012 | +586.3% |
| Arts and entertainment | 4 | 2021 to 2025 | loss narrowed |
| Agriculture, forestry and fishing | 3 | 2007 to 2010 | loss to profit |
| Manufacturing | 3 | 2014 to 2017 | +49.6% |
| Construction | 3 | 2011 to 2014 | +207.4% |
| Wholesale and retail trade | 3 | 2009 to 2012 | +131.4% |
| Information and communication | 3 | 2022 to 2025 | +124.0% |
| Financial and insurance | 3 | 2011 to 2014 | +78.2% |
| Other service activities | 3 | 2021 to 2024 | loss to profit |
| Mining and quarrying | 2 | 2015 to 2017 | loss to profit |
| Transportation and storage | 2 | 2008 to 2010 | +428.2% |
Longest unbroken run of year-over-year rising aggregate net profit per section, statement years 2007 to 2025, data as of 14 Aug 2026.
Never losing money and growing every year are not the same thing
A separate ranking on this site found 8 Thai industry sections that never posted an aggregate net loss in any statement year since 2007. That loss-free record and a long growth streak turn out to be different things. Financial and insurance and wholesale and retail trade both sit inside the loss-free 8, yet the longest run of rising profit either one has managed is just 3 years. Information and communication is loss-free too, and it also tops out at a 3-year streak. Water and waste is both loss-free and the streak leader at 7 years, so the two records can align, but they rarely do by default. Real estate is not part of the loss-free group, since it posted one loss year in 2019, and it still put together a 6-year growth streak, the second longest on this list. A section can be dependably profitable every single year while still moving sideways more often than it climbs, and a section that stumbled once can still string together one of the steadiest growth runs in the economy.
Why this matters
A lender or investor comparing Thai industries often reaches for a single number, such as whether a sector ever posted a loss, and stops there. This ranking shows that question misses something a growth streak captures directly, which is whether a sector's earnings actually build on themselves year after year rather than just staying above zero. Water and waste is a small section by company count, holding under a quarter of one percent of the companies inside the 18 fully tracked sections, yet it delivered the most consistent multi-year climb of any of them. Mining and quarrying is a much larger and more cyclical section, and its aggregate profit collapsed into a loss in 2015 before rebounding within two years, a pattern typical of resource-linked sectors that swing with commodity prices. For anyone underwriting risk across Thai industries, a long growth streak is evidence of momentum that a simple loss count cannot show, and a short one is a warning that even a currently healthy sector can stall out within a couple of years.
Definitions
- Growth streak
- The longest unbroken run of consecutive statement years in which a section's aggregate net profit was higher than the year before, ending the moment profit fails to rise for one year.
- Aggregate net profit
- Total net profit summed across every company in an industry section that filed a financial statement for a given statement year, not an average of individual company results.
- Statement year
- The fiscal year a company's filed financial statement covers. The source registry records it in the Buddhist calendar, and this analysis converts it to the common era by subtracting 543.
- Fully tracked section
- An industry section with a complete 19-year panel of statement-year data from 2007 through 2025 in the source registry, allowing a fair streak comparison against every other fully tracked section.
- Net margin
- Aggregate net profit as a share of aggregate revenue for a section. A margin of 10 percent means 10 satang of profit for every baht of revenue.
Assumptions
- Growth streaks are computed on section-wide aggregate sums, so a section can post an unbroken streak even in years when many individual companies inside it lost money.
- The households section, code T, and public administration and extraterritorial organizations, codes O and U, are excluded from the ranking because their statement-year panels are incomplete or absent in the source table.
- A streak breaking after one year does not mean profit collapsed. Several streaks ended on a small single-year decline before the section resumed climbing.
- Figures reflect the Max Data registry snapshot computed 14 August 2026, and DBD's underlying filings can be revised or backfilled in later registry updates.
Methodology
A growth streak counts the longest unbroken run of statement years in which a section's aggregate net profit rose from the prior year, using DBD-filed financial statement aggregates in the Max Data registry as of 14 August 2026. Aggregate net profit is summed across every 5-digit TSIC industry code within a section for each statement year, covering Buddhist calendar statement years 2550 through 2568, equal to calendar years 2007 through 2025. The incomplete 2569 statement year, equal to 2026, is excluded throughout. The households section, code T, has data for only 3 of the 19 tracked years and is excluded from the ranking as not fully measurable, and public administration and extraterritorial organizations, codes O and U, have no statement year history in this table at all and are excluded for the same reason. A streak measures only the direction of change year to year, not its size, so a section can post a long streak on small annual gains or a short one built on a single large swing.
How we verified this
- For each of the 18 fully tracked sections, statement years 2550 through 2568 were sorted in order and the longest run of strictly increasing summed net profit was counted directly from market_tsic_year_insight joined to market_tsic_insight on section_code, confirming water and waste at 7 straight rising years, from statement year 2550 equal to 2007 through 2557 equal to 2014.
- Four sections, electricity and gas, real estate, education, and human health and social work, were independently confirmed at exactly 6 consecutive rising years each, none longer, by checking the year immediately after each streak showed a decline.
- 5 sections reaching a streak of 6 years or longer divided by 18 fully tracked sections equals 27.8 percent.
- Water and waste's net profit rose from 2,059,411,870.22 baht in 2007 to 7,910,679,247.19 baht in 2014, and 7,910,679,247.19 divided by 2,059,411,870.22 equals 3.841, a gain of 284.1 percent.
- Entity counts for the 18 fully tracked sections summed to 1,986,415, which added to the 38, 32, and 4 companies in the excluded sections O, T, and U equals 1,986,489, matching the registry's total count of companies with a classified industry section.
- Water and waste's entity count of 4,818 divided by the 1,986,415 companies across the 18 fully tracked sections equals 0.24 percent.
- Water and waste's net margin was recomputed as 10,724,813,263.51 baht of net profit divided by 146,789,188,793.90 baht of revenue, equal to 7.31 percent, matching the registry's own net_margin column.
References
- Department of Business Development. (2026). Registered juristic persons and financial statement aggregates. Ministry of Commerce, Thailand. https://www.dbd.go.th/
- Bank of Thailand. (2026). Annual report: Financial institutions and payment systems. https://www.bot.or.th/en/research-and-publications/reports/annual-report.html
Frequently asked questions
Which Thai industry section has the longest streak of rising annual profit?
Water and waste, with aggregate net profit rising for 7 straight statement years from 2007 through 2014, the longest unbroken growth streak of any of the 18 fully tracked industry sections.
Which sections come closest to the top streak?
Electricity and gas, real estate, education, and human health and social work each managed 6 consecutive years of rising profit, one year short of water and waste.
Does never posting a loss mean a section grows every year?
No. Financial and insurance, wholesale and retail trade, and information and communication have never posted an aggregate net loss since 2007, but each has a longest growth streak of just 3 years, far short of the leaders.
Which sections have the shortest growth streaks?
Mining and quarrying and transportation and storage each top out at just 2 consecutive years of rising profit, the shortest of any fully tracked section.
Cite this page
Chatpong L. (2026). Water and Waste Has Thailand's Longest Profit Streak (2026). Max Data Insights. https://maxdatathailand.com/insights/which-thai-industry-sections-have-the-longest-profit-growth-streaks-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.