Number of registered businesses at highest level in a decade

FRIDAY, MAY 12, 2023

A total of 6,041 new businesses were registered in April, an increase of 12.37% over the same period last year, according to data released by the Department of Business Development under the Commerce Ministry.

The total number of registered establishments in operation during the first four months of this year reached 32,223, the highest in the past decade.

The tourism sector saw 100% growth, Commerce Minister Jurin Laksanawisit disclosed on Friday.

The 6,041 businesses registered in the first four months of this year had a combined registered capital of 20.90 billion baht.

The top three sectors with the most number of new business registrations were:

– Real estate, with 434 business registrations (7.19%);

– General building construction, 405 registrations (6.70%);

– Hospitality/food service, 262 registrations (4.34%).

The majority of new registrations – 3,971 (65.73%) – had capital of less than 1 million baht, followed by 1,985 new businesses (32.86%) with capital in the 1 million to 5 million baht range, while 67 new registrations (1.11%) had capital ranging from 5 million to 100 million baht. Only 18 new businesses (0.30%) had capital exceeding 100 million baht.

Meanwhile, businesses that ceased operations in April totalled 936, with registered capital value of 5.18 billion. The top three types of businesses that ceased operations were:

– 115 general construction businesses (12.29%),

– 53 real estate businesses (5.66%);

– 23 restaurant businesses (2.46%).

The great majority of businesses that ceased operations – 631 (67.42%) – had registered capital not exceeding 1 million baht, followed by 268 (28.63%) entities with capital ranging from 1 million to 5 million baht, 32 businesses (3.42%) with capital ranging from 5 million to 100 million baht, and 5 enterprises (0.53%) with capital exceeding 100 million baht.

The number of registered businesses still operating (as of April 30) nationwide was 871,041, with a combined registered capital of 21.23 trillion baht. They are categorised as:

– 667,100 limited companies, accounting for 76.59%;

– 202,544 partnerships/ordinary partnerships (23.25%);

– 1,397 public limited companies (0.16%).

Registered businesses still in operation as of April 30 were:

– 510,856 entities (58.65%) with a registered capital of less than 1 million baht, accounting for a combined total registered capital of 450 billion baht (2.11%)

– 265,453 (30.47%) firms with capital of 1 million to 5 million baht, and combined capital of 910 billion baht (4.27%);

– 77,155 businesses (8.86%) with a registered capital of 5 million to 100 million baht, accounting for combined capital of 2.12 trillion baht (9.98%);

– 17,577 businesses (2.02%) with registered capital exceeding 100 million baht, accounting for a combined capital of 17.76 trillion baht (83.64%).

The current total number of 32,223 registered companies is the highest since 2013.