China: Manufacturing, value added (% of GDP)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2025, China's manufacturing, value added (% of GDP) fell 0.11 percentage points on 2024 (from 24.84% to 24.73%).

Across the 20 yearly changes before that (2005 to 2024), the average change was −0.33 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.59 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.4 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 1.04 percentage points in 2021 and the biggest yearly fall was 1.44 percentage points in 2015. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2016 to 2025 the straight-line trend is downward, about 0.34 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 86% of the movement over 10 observed years.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

A straight-line projection, tested first

Extending that straight line gives about 23.18% for 2028. We show this only because the same method, fitted on earlier years, predicted 2023 to 2025 better than "no change" would have: its average miss was 0.61%, against 1.12% for assuming no change. Treat it as a continuation of the recent pattern, not a forecast of events: it cannot see a recession, a policy change or a revision to the data.

See how a linear trend forecast works and the guide on forecasting without fooling yourself.

How it compares

In 2025, China had the 7th highest value of the 132 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.

Closest to China in the 2025 ranking

• Eswatini — 4th of 132: 28.06%
• Korea, Rep. — 5th of 132: 27.43%
• Myanmar — 6th of 132: 25.1%
• Viet Nam — 8th of 132: 24.53%
• Thailand — 9th of 132: 23.74%
• Bangladesh — 10th of 132: 22.44%

What this measures

Manufacturing includes industries classified in ISIC (Rev. 3) major division C and is defined as the physical or chemical transformation of materials or components into new products. Value added is the contribution to the economy by a producer or an industry or an institutional sector, which is estimated by the total value of output produced and deducting the total value of intermediate consumption of goods and services used to produce that output. This indicator is expressed as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which is the total income earned through the production of goods and services in an economic territory during an accounting period.

Limitations: Ideally, industrial output should be measured through regular censuses and surveys of firms. But in most developing countries such surveys are infrequent, so earlier survey results must be extrapolated using an appropriate indicator. The choice of sampling unit, which may be the enterprise (where responses may be based on financial records) or the establishment (where production units may be recorded separately), also affects the quality of the data. Moreover, much industrial production is organized in unincorporated or owner-operated ventures that are not captured by surveys aimed at the formal sector.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.

All 22 values

Manufacturing, value added (% of GDP) in nearby economies

• Australia — 5.32% (2025)
• Brunei Darussalam — 9.93% (2025)
• Cambodia — 29.02% (2025)
• Fiji — 9.14% (2025)
• French Polynesia — 4.73% (2020)
• Hong Kong SAR, China — 0.93% (2024)
• Indonesia — 19.07% (2025)
• Japan — 18.82% (2024)
• Kiribati — 4.24% (2024)
• Korea, Rep. — 27.43% (2025)
• Lao PDR

More economic policy & debt data for China

• Exports of goods and services (current US$) — US$4.11 trillion (2025)
• Exports of goods and services (current LCU) — 29.54 trillion (2025)
• Exports of goods and services (% of GDP) — 21.07% (2025)
• Imports of goods and services (current US$) — US$3.29 trillion (2025)
• Imports of goods and services (current LCU) — 23.67 trillion (2025)
• Imports of goods and services (% of GDP) — 16.89% (2025)
• External balance on goods and services (current US$) — US$816.19 billion (2025)
• External balance on goods and services (current LCU) — 5.87 trillion (2025)
• External balance on goods and services (% of GDP) — 4.19% (2025)

Reading data like this

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
• Data analysis examples: 6 worked from one dataset — 3 min read
• Real change or random noise? A plain guide to reading your numbers — 2 min read

Questions people ask

What is China's manufacturing, value added (% of GDP)?

24.73% in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 2004?

It is down 6.78 percentage points from 31.51% in 2004. The highest value was 31.99% in 2006 and the lowest 24.73% in 2025.

How does China rank?

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator NV.IND.MANF.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Country official statistics, National Statistical Offices (NSOs); National Accounts data files, Central Banks; Staff estimates, World Bank (WB) Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

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