Reference
China Economic Data — Official Figures, Revisions & Breaks
China's headline economic figures as published, with the methodology changes and series breaks that make them easy to misread. Every number here is an official release — nothing is modelled, forecast, or derived from Trueindex's markets.
Figures verified through 31 December 2024
GDP growth · % year on year
| Period | Value |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 5.0 |
| 2023 | 5.2 |
| 2022 | 3.0Zero-COVID lockdowns; the published target had been 'around 5.5%'. |
| 2021 | 8.4 |
| 2020 | 2.2No growth target was set for 2020, the only such year in recent record. |
Consumer price index · % year on year
| Period | Value |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 0.2 |
| 2023 | 0.2 |
| 2022 | 2.0 |
| 2021 | 0.9 |
Two consecutive years near zero. China's CPI basket weights food and housing differently from US or EU baskets, so the headline number is not directly comparable to theirs.
Exports · % year on year, USD
| Period | Value |
|---|---|
| 2024 | +5.9 |
| 2023 | -4.6First annual decline since 2016. |
| 2022 | +7.0 |
Youth unemployment (16–24, urban) · %
| Period | Value |
|---|---|
| Dec 2023 | 14.9First print under the revised methodology, which excludes students seeking work. |
| Aug–Nov 2023 | —Publication suspended. The NBS said the series needed 'further improvement'. |
| Jun 2023 | 21.3Record high, and the last figure published before the suspension. |
The break in this series is the single most important thing to understand about it. Figures from December 2023 onward are NOT comparable with the pre-suspension series, because the definition changed at the same moment publication resumed. Any chart that draws one continuous line through mid-2023 is wrong.
Population change · million
| Period | Value |
|---|---|
| 2024 | -1.39 |
| 2023 | -2.08 |
| 2022 | -0.85First recorded decline since 1961. |
How to read this
- Figures are as first published. Where a series was later revised or redefined, that is noted on the row rather than silently corrected — the revision is often the more interesting fact.
- A dash means publication was suspended, not that the value was zero.
- Chinese statistical definitions frequently differ from US or EU equivalents. Comparing a Chinese headline figure directly with an American one is usually a mistake, and the notes say so where it matters.