New business registrations drop as investors await global trade clarity

Auramon Supthaweethum, Director-General of the Department of Business Development, revealed that in April 2025, there were 6,325 newly registered businesses—a decrease of 3.14% compared to the previous period. However, the total registered capital increased by 17.86% to THB32.14 billion.

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

General building construction – 502 businesses, with registered capital of THB988 million

Real estate – 439 businesses, with registered capital of THB1.57 billion

Restaurants and catering – 264 businesses, with registered capital of THB469 million

In April 2025, there were two businesses registered with capital exceeding THB1 billion, totalling THB16.52 billion:

Gulf Development Public Company Limited, with registered capital of THB14.94 billion, engages in limited partnership and shareholding activities domestically and internationally for the company's benefit.

Idemitsu Apollo (Thailand) Co., Ltd., with registered capital of THB1.58 billion, engages in manufacturing and distributing lubricants, greases, and related products.

For the first four months of 2025 (January–April), new business registrations totalled 30,148—a decline of 4.39%. Meanwhile, total registered capital rose by 17.70% to THB112.06 billion.

The top three sectors for this period were:

General building construction – 2,394 businesses, with registered capital of THB5.10 billion

Real estate – 2,047 businesses, with registered capital of THB7.83 billion

Restaurants and catering – 1,237 businesses, with registered capital of THB2.43 billion

In the first four months of 2025, there were a total of seven newly registered businesses with registered capital exceeding THB1 billion, totalling THB37.5 billion.

In April 2025, there were 814 business closures registered, an increase of 0.49%. The total registered capital of these closed businesses was THB4.13 billion, a decrease of 18.94%. The top three sectors with the highest number of closures were:

General building construction: 65 closures, with registered capital of THB110 million

Real estate: 47 closures, with registered capital of THB416 million

Restaurants and catering: 30 closures, with registered capital of THB50 million

For the first four months of 2025 (January–April), business closures totalled 3,921, up 8.34% from the previous period. The accumulated registered capital of closed businesses was THB15.99 billion, down 6.16%. The top three sectors with the highest closures were:

General building construction: 372 closures, with registered capital of THB652 million

Real estate: 184 closures, with registered capital of THB912 million

Restaurants and catering: 159 closures, with registered capital of THB391 million

During this period, two companies with registered capital exceeding THB1 billion ceased operations, with a combined registered capital of THB4.13 billion.

“The 4.39% decline in new business registrations during the first four months of 2025 (January–April) is partly due to various internal and external challenges facing the business sector. These include the global economic situation, geopolitical conflicts, uncertainties regarding trade policies, and US tariff measures.

Additionally, rising living costs and cautious consumer spending have led businesses to delay decisions and slow down new business registrations,” said Auramon.

The decline in new business registrations during this period was seen particularly in sectors such as real estate, online retail, general retail stores, and real estate brokerage, influenced by global economic volatility, household debt issues in Thailand, and uncertainties about US import tax policies.

Conversely, some sectors have seen growth in new registrations compared to the same period last year, including wholesale trade, animal feed wholesale, hotels, hospitals, and used car sales. This growth is attributed to government tourism promotion activities, as well as health and lifestyle trends among modern consumers.

Business closures increased by 8.34% in the first four months of 2025 compared to the same period last year. Some sectors with higher closure rates include management consulting, general retail stores, and real estate brokerage—businesses that must quickly adapt to consumer behaviour and competitive dynamics.

However, it is expected that Thailand’s economy will gain momentum from private consumption, private investment, policy interest rate cuts, tourism recovery, and accelerated disbursement for public infrastructure projects in Q3–Q4 of the 2025 fiscal year. These factors are likely to support annual business registrations to grow to around 90,000 in 2025.