National Bureau of Statistics of China

17 January 2025

In 2024, in face of the complicated and severe environment with increasing external pressures and internal difficulties, under the strong leadership of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, all regions and departments strictly implemented the decisions and arrangements made by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, adhered to the general principle of seeking progress while maintaining stability, fully and faithfully applied the new development philosophy on all fronts, accelerated efforts to foster a new pattern of development, and pursued high-quality development in solid steps. As a result, the national economy was generally stable with steady progress and new achievements were made in high-quality development. Particularly, with a package of incremental policies being timely rolled out, the social confidence was effectively bolstered and the economy recovered remarkably. The major targets and tasks of economic and social development were achieved successfully.

According to preliminary estimates, the gross domestic product (GDP) was 134,908.4 billion yuan in 2024, an increase of 5.0 percent over the previous year at constant prices. By industries, the value added of the primary industry was 9,141.4 billion yuan, up by 3.5 percent over last year, that of the secondary industry was 49,208.7 billion yuan, up by 5.3 percent and that of the tertiary industry was 76,558.3 billion yuan, up by 5.0 percent. By quarters, the GDP for the first quarter went up by 5.3 percent year on year, up by 4.7 percent for the second quarter, 4.6 percent for the third quarter and 5.4 percent for the fourth quarter. The GDP for the fourth quarter increased by 1.6 percent quarter on quarter.

1. Grain Output Reached a New Level and Production of Animal Husbandry Grew Steadily.

The total output of grain in 2024 was 706.50 million tons, an increase of 11.09 million tons over the previous year, or up by 1.6 percent. Of this total, the output of summer grain was 149.89 million tons, up by 2.6 percent; that of early rice was 28.17 million tons, down by 0.6 percent and that of autumn grain reached 528.43 million tons, up by 1.4 percent. By species, the output of wheat was 140.10 million tons, up by 2.6 percent; that of corn 294.92 million tons, up by 2.1 percent; that of rice 207.53 million tons, up by 0.5 percent; and that of soybean 20.65 million tons, down by 0.9 percent. The total output of pork, beef, mutton and poultry in 2024 was 96.63 million tons, up by 0.2 percent over the previous year. Of this total, the output of pork was 57.06 million tons, down by 1.5 percent; that of beef 7.79 million tons, up by 3.5 percent; that of mutton 5.18 million tons, down by 2.5 percent; and that of poultry 26.60 million tons, up by 3.8 percent. The production of milk reached 40.79 million tons, down by 2.8 percent and that of eggs 35.88 million tons, up by 0.7 percent. In 2024, 702.56 million pigs were slaughtered, down by 3.3 percent, and 427.43 million pigs were registered in stock at the end of the year, down by 1.6 percent.

2. Industrial Production Saw a Good Momentum of Growth and Equipment Manufacturing and High-Tech Manufacturing Grew Fast.

In 2024, the total value added of industrial enterprises above the designated size increased by 5.8 percent over the previous year. In terms of sectors, the value added of mining was up by 3.1 percent, that of manufacturing up by 6.1 percent and that of production and supply of electricity, thermal power, gas and water up by 5.3 percent. The value added of equipment manufacturing went up by 7.7 percent, and that of high-tech manufacturing up by 8.9 percent, 1.9 percentage points and 3.1 percentage points faster than that of the whole industrial enterprises above the designated size respectively. In terms of ownership, the value added of the state holding enterprises grew by 4.2 percent, that of the share-holding enterprises was up by 6.1 percent, that of the enterprises funded by foreign investors and investors from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan increased by 4.0 percent and that of private enterprises was up by 5.3 percent. By products, the production of new energy vehicles, integrated circuits and industrial robots grew by 38.7 percent, 22.2 percent and 14.2 percent respectively. In the fourth quarter, the total value added of the industrial enterprises above the designated size grew by 5.7 percent year on year. In December, the total value added of the industrial enterprises above the designated size grew by 6.2 percent year on year, or up by 0.64 percent month on month. In the first eleven months, the total profits made by industrial enterprises above the designated size were 6,667.5 billion yuan, down by 4.7 percent year on year.

3. Service Sector Registered Continued Growth and Modern Services Enjoyed Sound Development.

The value added of service sector went up by 5.0 percent over the previous year. The value added of information transmission, software and information technology services, leasing and business services, transportation, storage and postal services, accommodation and catering, finance, and wholesale and retail grew by 10.9 percent, 10.4 percent, 7.0 percent, 6.4 percent, 5.6 percent and 5.5 percent respectively. In the fourth quarter, the value added of service sector went up by 5.8 percent year on year. In December, the Index of Services Production went up by 6.5 percent year on year, and specifically, that of leasing and business services, finance, information transmission, software and information technology service and transportation, storage and postal services grew by 9.5 percent, 9.3 percent, 8.8 percent and 8.3 percent respectively. In the first eleven months, the business revenue of service enterprises above the designated size grew by 8.2 percent year on year, of which the business revenue of leasing and business services, information transmission, software and information technology services and transportation, storage and postal services went up by 11.5 percent, 9.5 percent and 8.3 percent respectively.

4. Market Sales Kept Growing and Online Sales Were Active.

In 2024, the total retail sales of consumer goods reached 48,789.5 billion yuan, up by 3.5 percent over the previous year. Analyzed by different areas, the retail sales in urban areas reached 42,116.6 billion yuan, up by 3.4 percent; and the retail sales in rural areas stood at 6,672.9 billion yuan, up by 4.3 percent. Grouped by consumption patterns, the retail sales of goods were 43,217.7 billion yuan, up by 3.2 percent; and the income of catering was 5,571.8 billion yuan, up by 5.3 percent. The sales of basic living goods and certain upgraded goods witnessed good momentum of growth. The retail sales of household appliances and audio-video equipment, that of sports and recreational articles, that of communication equipment and that of grain, oil and food by enterprises above the designated size grew by 12.3 percent, 11.1 percent, 9.9 percent and 9.9 percent respectively. The national online retail sales reached 15,522.5 billion yuan, up by 7.2 percent over the previous year. Specifically, the online retail sales of physical goods were 13,081.6 billion yuan, up by 6.5 percent, accounting for 26.8 percent of the total retail sales of consumer goods. In the fourth quarter, the total retail sales of consumer goods went up by 3.8 percent year on year. In December, the total retail sales of consumer goods went up by 3.7 percent year on year, or up by 0.12 percent month on month. The retail sales of services in 2024 grew by 6.2 percent over the previous year.

5. Investment in Fixed Assets Scaled up and Investment in High-tech Industries Grew Rapidly.

In 2024, the investment in fixed assets (excluding rural households) reached 51,437.4 billion yuan, up by 3.2 percent over the previous year. The investment in fixed assets was up by 7.2 percent with the investment in real estate development deducted. Specifically, the investment in infrastructure went up by 4.4 percent, manufacturing up by 9.2 percent and real estate development down by 10.6 percent. The floor space of newly-built commercial buildings sold was 973.85 million square meters, down by 12.9 percent; and the total sales of newly-built commercial buildings were 9,675.0 billion yuan, down by 17.1 percent. By industries, the investment in the primary industry went up by 2.6 percent; that in the secondary industry up by 12.0 percent; and that in the tertiary industry down by 1.1 percent. The private investment went down by 0.1 percent. Deducting the investment in real estate development, the private investment grew by 6.0 percent. The investment in high-tech industries grew by 8.0 percent. Specifically, the investment in high-tech manufacturing and high-tech services grew by 7.0 percent and 10.2 percent respectively. In terms of high-tech manufacturing, the investment in manufacturing of aerospace vehicles and equipment and manufacturing of computers and office devices grew by 39.5 percent and 7.1 percent respectively. In terms of high-tech services, the investment in professional technical services and in services for transformation of scientific and technological achievements went up by 30.3 percent and 11.4 percent respectively. In December, the investment in fixed assets (excluding rural households) grew by 0.33 percent month on month.

6. Imports and Exports of Goods Grew Fast and Trade Structure Continued to Optimize.

In 2024, the total value of imports and exports of goods was 43,846.8 billion yuan, an increase of 5.0 percent over the previous year. The total value of exports was 25,454.5 billion yuan, up by 7.1 percent; the total value of imports was 18,392.3 billion yuan, up by 2.3 percent. The imports and exports with the Belt and Road partner countries grew by 6.4 percent, accounting for 50.3 percent of the total value of imports and exports. The exports of mechanical and electrical products grew by 8.7 percent, accounting for 59.4 percent of the total value of exports. In December, the total value of imports and exports of goods was 4,067.0 billion yuan, up by 6.8 percent year on year. Specifically, the total value of exports was 2,409.9 billion yuan, up by 10.9 percent; the total value of imports was 1,657.0 billion yuan, up by 1.3 percent.

7. Consumer Price Was Generally Stable and Core CPI Went up Mildly.

In 2024, the consumer price index (CPI) went up by 0.2 percent over the previous year. Grouped by commodity categories, prices for food, tobacco and alcohol went down by 0.1 percent; clothing up by 1.4 percent; housing up by 0.1 percent; articles and services for daily use up by 0.5 percent; transportation and communication down by 1.9 percent; education, culture and recreation up by 1.5 percent; medical services and health care up by 1.3 percent; and other articles and services up by 3.8 percent. In terms of food, tobacco and alcohol prices, prices for fresh fruits went down by 3.5 percent, grain down by 0.1 percent, fresh vegetables up by 5.0 percent, and pork up by 7.7 percent. Core CPI excluding the prices of food and energy went up by 0.5 percent. In December, the CPI went up by 0.1 percent year on year, maintaining the same level month on month. In 2024, the producer prices and purchasing prices for industrial products both went down by 2.2 percent over the previous year; in December, the producer prices and purchasing prices for industrial products both went down by 2.3 percent year on year, or down by 0.1 percent month on month.

8. Employment Was Generally Stable and Urban Surveyed Unemployment Rate Went Down.

In 2024, the urban surveyed unemployment rate averaged 5.1 percent, 0.1 percentage points lower than that of the previous year. In December, the urban surveyed unemployment rate was 5.1 percent. The surveyed unemployment rate of population with local household registration was 5.3 percent and that of population with non-local household registration was 4.6 percent, of which the rate of population with non-local agricultural household registration was 4.5 percent. The urban surveyed unemployment rate in 31 major cities was 5.0 percent. The employees of enterprises worked 49.0 hours per week on average. In 2024, the number of rural migrant workers totaled 299.73 million, 2.20 million more than that of the previous year, or up by 0.7 percent. Specifically, local migrant workers totaled 121.02 million, up by 0.1 percent; outbound migrant workers totaled 178.71 million, up by 1.2 percent.

9. Resident Income Continued to Increase and Income of Rural Residents Grew Faster than that of Urban Residents.

In 2024, the nationwide per capita disposable income of residents was 41,314 yuan, a nominal increase of 5.3 percent over that of the previous year, or a real increase of 5.1 percent after deducting price factors. In terms of permanent residence, the per capita disposable income of urban households was 54,188 yuan, a nominal growth of 4.6 percent over the previous year or a real growth of 4.4 percent after deducting price factors. The per capita disposable income of rural households was 23,119 yuan, a nominal growth of 6.6 percent over the previous year or a real growth of 6.3 percent after deducting price factors. The median of the nationwide per capita disposable income was 34,707 yuan, a nominal increase of 5.1 percent over the previous year. Grouped by income quintile, the per capita disposable income of low-income group reached 9,542 yuan, the lower-middle-income group 21,608 yuan, the middle-income group 33,925 yuan, the upper-middle-income group 53,359 yuan and the high-income group 98,809 yuan. In 2024, the nationwide per capita consumption expenditure was 28,227 yuan, a nominal growth of 5.3 percent over the previous year or a real growth of 5.1 percent after deducting price factors. The per capita consumption expenditure on food, tobacco and alcohol accounted for 29.8 percent of the per capita consumption expenditure (Engel’s coefficient), maintaining the same level compared with that of last year. The per capita consumption expenditure on services went up by 7.4 percent, accounting for 46.1 percent of the per capita consumption expenditure, 0.9 percentage points higher than that of the previous year.

10. Total Population Went down and Urbanization Rate Continued to Grow.

By the end of 2024, the national population was 1,408.28 million (including the population of 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities and servicemen, but excluding residents of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan and foreigners living in the 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities), a decrease of 1.39 million over that at the end of 2023. In 2024, the number of births was 9.54 million with a birth rate of 6.77 per thousand; the number of deaths was 10.93 million with a mortality rate of 7.76 per thousand; the natural population growth rate was negative 0.99 per thousand. In terms of gender, the male population was 719.09 million, and the female population was 689.19 million; the sex ratio of the total population was 104.34 (the female is 100). In terms of age structure, the population aged 16 to 59 was 857.98 million, accounting for 60.9 percent of the total population; the population aged 60 and over was 310.31 million, accounting for 22.0 percent of the total population. Specifically, the population aged 65 and over was 220.23 million, accounting for 15.6 percent of the total population. In terms of urban-rural structure, the permanent residents in urban areas were 943.50 million, an increase of 10.83 million over the end of the previous year; and the permanent residents in rural areas were 464.78 million, a decrease of 12.22 million. The share of urban population in the total population (urbanization rate) was 67.00 percent, 0.84 percentage points higher than that at the end of the previous year.

Generally speaking, the national economy in 2024 was generally stable with steady progress, the high-quality development was advanced steadily and new solid strides were taken in building the Chinese modernization. However, we must be aware that the adverse effects brought by external environment are increasing, the domestic demands are insufficient, some enterprises have difficulties in production and operation, and the economy is still facing difficulties and challenges. At the next stage, we must take Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era as the guideline, fully implement the guiding principles of the 20th CPC National Congress, the Second and Third Plenary Sessions of the 20th CPC Central Committee, stick to the arrangements made by the Central Economic Work Conference and adhere to the general principle of pursuing progress while ensuring stability. We must fully and faithfully apply the new development philosophy on all fronts, accelerate efforts to foster a new pattern of development and take solid steps in pursuing high-quality development. We must further deepen reform and opening up, implement more proactive and effective macro policies, expand domestic demands, promote integrated advancements in technological and industrial innovation, stabilize market expectation and boost internal vitality, so as to ensure a continued economic recovery and development.

Notes:

1. The growth rate of GDP and its sub-items are calculated at constant prices. The growth rates of value added of industrial enterprises above designated size and its sub-items are calculated at comparable prices. Both are real growth rates. The growth rates of other indicators are nominal growth by using current prices unless otherwise specified.

2. According to the auto-revision function of the seasonal adjustment model, revisions are made to quarter-on-quarter growth of GDP and to month-on-month changes of the value added of industrial enterprises above designated size, investment in fixed assets (excluding rural households), and total retail sales of consumer goods. The revised figures, quarter-on-quarter GDP growth for the fourth quarter of 2024 and month-on-month changes of other indicators for December 2024 are as follows:

The quarter-on-quarter growth of GDP in 2023 and 2024 are 1.7 percent, 1.2 percent, 1.5 percent, 0.9 percent, 1.5 percent, 0.9 percent, 1.3 percent and 1.6 percent respectively.

3. Industrial enterprises above designated size are industrial enterprises with annual revenue from principal business over 20 million yuan.

As industrial enterprises above the designated size change every year, to ensure the data comparability between years, the coverage of the data of the same period last year used for estimating year-on-year growth rates like that of products output, is as consistent as possible with the current period and different from the coverage of the data published last year. The main reasons are as follows: First, the statistical units change. Every year, some enterprises are included in the survey as they meet the threshold, while some enterprises are removed from the survey because of downsizing. Besides, enterprises that have newly gone into operation, been bankrupted, canceled their registrations or had their business licenses revoked also cause impact. Second, duplicated outputs across regions of enterprise groups have been removed based on the ad hoc surveys since duplication is found in the products output of some enterprise groups.

4. The Index of Services Production is the change of production in the reporting period compared to the base period with the price factors deducted.

5. The scope of the total retail sales of consumer goods includes all legal entities, establishments and self-employed individuals involved in retail trades or providing catering services. Specifically, businesses above the designated size include wholesale enterprises (businesses, self-employed individuals), retail enterprises (businesses, self-employed individuals) and lodging and catering enterprises (businesses, self-employed individuals) with annual revenue from principal business over 20 million yuan, 5 million yuan and 2 million yuan respectively.

As the wholesale, retail, and lodging and catering enterprises (businesses, self-employed individuals) above the designated size change every year, to ensure the data comparability between years, the coverage of the data of the same period last year used for estimating year-on-year growth rates like that of the retail sales of consumer goods by businesses above the designated size is consistent with the current period and different from the coverage of data published last year. The main reasons are: some enterprises (businesses, self-employed individuals) are included in the survey as they meet the threshold, while some enterprises (businesses, self-employed individuals) are removed from the survey because of downsizing every year. Besides, enterprises (businesses, self-employed individuals) that have newly gone into operation, been bankrupted, canceled their registrations or had their business licenses revoked also cause impact.

Online retail sales refer to the retail sales of goods and services realized through internet trading platforms (including self-built websites and third-party platforms). Goods and services include physical goods and non-physical goods (e.g. virtual goods and services).

The total retail sales of consumer goods include the online retail sales of physical goods, but not the non-physical goods.

6. The retail sales of services refer to the total value of services directly provided by enterprises (establishments, self-employed units) to individuals and other units for non-production and non-operating purposes in the form of transactions. It aims to reflect the value of services with the nature of consumption sold by service providers in monetary terms, including the retail sales of services in transportation, accommodation, catering, education, health, sports, entertainment, and other fields.

7. The growth rates of investment in fixed assets are calculated on a comparable basis.

8. Data of imports and exports are from the General Administration of Customs.

9. Employed people refer to people aged 16 and above who have the ability to work and engage in gainful employment for remuneration payment or business income.

10. Rural migrant workers refer to those who work in urban areas, or in the non-agriculture sectors in local or other areas for 6 months and above with their permanent household registrations being in rural areas. Local migrant workers refer to those who work in the administration area where they register their households permanently. Outbound migrant workers refer to those who work in areas other than the administration area where they register their households permanently.

11. The median of the nationwide per capita disposable income of residents refers to the per capita disposable income of households which lies in the middle of all surveyed households ranked from low to high on the basis of per capita disposable income level.

The per capita disposable income of nationwide households by income quintile refers to the five equal partitions of all surveyed households, who are ranked from low to high based on per capita income level. The top 20 percent with the lowest income are classified as low-income group, and the other four levels are lower-middle-income group, middle-income group, upper-middle-income group and high-income group.

12. Due to the rounding-off reasons, the subentries may not add up to the aggregate totals.

In case of any differences between English translation and the original Chinese text, the Chinese edition shall prevail.