Announcement of the National Bureau of Statistics on the Final Verification of GDP in 2024

According to China’s accounting and data release system of gross domestic product (hereinafter referred to as “GDP”), the annual GDP of China goes through two stages of accounting: preliminary accounting and final verification. Recently, based on the annual statistical data of the National Bureau of Statistics of China (hereinafter referred to as NBS), the final fiscal accounts of the Ministry of Finance of China, and sector-specific annual financial statistics, NBS has conducted the final verification of the GDP data in 2024. The main results are as follows:

According to the final verification, the GDP at current prices in China reached 134.8066 trillion yuan in 2024, a decrease of 101.8 billion yuan from the preliminary accounting; at constant prices, the GDP in China was 5.0 percent higher than that in the previous year and flat from the preliminary accounting. The data of three strata of industry and each sector are shown in the attached table.

It is hereby announced.

Annex: 1. Final Verified GDP in 2024

2. Explanation of Annual Accounting of China’s GDP

National Bureau of Statistics

December 26, 2025

Annex 1

Final Verified GDP in 2024

Annex 2

Explanation of Annual Accounting of China’s GDP

1. Overview of annual GDP accounting

1.1 Basic concept

GDP is the final result of the productive activities of all resident units in a country over a certain period. It is the core indicator of national economic accounting and an important indicator of the economic situation and level of development of a country.

There are three methods of GDP accounting, namely, the production-based method, the income-based method, and the expenditure-based method. The three methods reflect the results of productive activities of the national economy from different perspectives. The production-based method is a method of obtaining value added by removing the value of intermediate goods and services that are inputs to the production process from the value of goods and services created in the production process. The formula for calculating the value added of the production-based method in each sector of the national economy is as follows: value added = total output - intermediate inputs. The value added of the production-based method in each sector of the national economy is summed up to obtain the gross domestic product (GDP) by the production-based method. The income-based method accounts for the results of production activities from the perspective of the income generated by the production process. According to this method of calculation, value added consists of four components: compensation of workers, net taxes on production, depreciation of fixed assets, and business surplus. The formula is as follows: value added = compensation of workers + net taxes on production + depreciation of fixed assets + business surplus. The sum of the value added of each sector of the national economy under the income-based method is equal to the GDP by the income-based method. The expenditure-based method is a method of calculating GDP from the perspective of the end use of the results of productive activities. The end use consists of final consumption expenditure, gross capital formation, and net exports of goods and services.

GDP at constant prices is calculated by converting GDP measured at current prices into values based on the prices of a fixed base period, thereby eliminating the effects of price changes and enabling comparisons of values across different periods of time.

1.2 Scope of accounting

1.2.1 Scope of production

The scope of production for GDP accounting includes the following four components: first, the production of goods or services that producers supply or intend to supply to other units; second, the subsistence production of all goods used by producers for their final consumption or for fixed capital formation; third, the subsistence production of knowledge-carrying goods carried out by producers for their final consumption or for fixed capital formation, excluding similar activities carried out by the household sector; fourth, the subsistence production of housing services provided by owner-occupied dwellings, and of household and personal services provided by paid domestic service workers. The scope of production does not include unpaid household and personal services, natural activities not controlled by certain units (e.g., wild, uncultivated forests, natural growth of wild fruits or berries, natural growth of fish populations in the high seas), etc.

1.2.2 Scope of subjects of production activities

The scope of subjects of GDP production activities includes all resident units with centers of economic interest within the economic territory of China. The annual GDP data in this report are national data compiled by the NBS under GDP accounting, and do not include GDP data for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Macao Special Administrative Region, and Taiwan Province.

1.3 Accounting units

GDP accounting mainly takes legal entities as the accounting unit. In accounting, legal entities are classified into different sectors based on the main activities they are engaged in, and the value added of each sector is calculated separately, which is then summarized to obtain GDP.

1.4 Accounting steps

In accordance with the timeliness requirements of GDP accounting, the annual GDP of China goes through two stages of accounting: preliminary accounting and final verification. Generally, the final verification results differ from those of the preliminary accounting.

1.4.1 Preliminary accounting

Before 2015, China used cumulative accounting for quarterly GDP, with the preliminary accounting of GDP for the first through fourth quarters as the preliminary accounting of annual GDP. Since the third quarter of 2015, the quarterly accounting method has been adopted for the accounting of quarterly GDP, that is, the GDP data of the first quarter, the second quarter, the third quarter, and the fourth quarter are calculated respectively, and the preliminary accounting of annual GDP is obtained by adding the GDP data of each quarter. The preliminary accounting of annual GDP is completed before January 20 of the next year.

1.4.2 final verification

The final verification of annual GDP is generally completed before January of the year after next. In final verification, more comprehensive and reliable basic data are used, including annual statistical reports from the NBS, sector-specific annual financial statistics, and final fiscal accounts. During the process, the value added of each sector and the GDP are calculated mainly based on these data, employing either the production-based method or the income-based method.

1.5 Legal basis and regulations

GDP accounting strictly complies with the provisions of the Statistics Law of the People’s Republic of China. Currently, the GDP of China is measured according to the requirements of the China’s System of National Accounts (2016), which adopts the basic accounting principles, contents, and methods of the United Nations System of National Accounts (2008).

1.6 Confidentiality

According to the provisions of Article 11, Chapter I, of the Statistics Law of the People’s Republic of China, statistical organizations and statisticians shall maintain the confidentiality of state secrets, work secrets, commercial secrets, personal privacy, and personal information that they learn about in the course of their statistical work, and shall not disclose or illegally provide them to others.

National accountants shall maintain strict confidentiality of unpublished specialized statistical data and administrative record data used in conducting GDP accounting, as well as strict confidentiality of current GDP data until the GDP accounting data are released.

1.7 User requirements

Domestic users of annual GDP data are mainly government departments, research institutions, universities and colleges, industry associations, the media, and the general public. In addition, the NBS regularly provides the annual GDP data of China to international organizations such as the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, and the Asian Development Bank.

2. Annual GDP accounting methods

2.1 Classification system

In annual GDP accounting, the industry classification is based on the Industrial Classification for National Economic Activities and the Classification of Three Strata of Industry, and two classification approaches are used.

The first classification is based on the Industrial Classification for National Economic Activities (GB/T 4754-2017) issued by the Standardization Administration in 2017. Two levels of classification are used in practice.

The first level of classification is based on the categories in the industrial classification for national economic activities and is divided into 11 industries, including agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery, industry, construction, wholesale and retail trades, transport, storage and post, hotels and catering services, financial intermediation, real estate, information transmission, software and information technology services, leasing and business services, and other industries. The industry consists of three sectors: mining, manufacturing, and production and supply of electricity, thermal power, gas and water. Other industries include seven sectors, including scientific research and technical services, water conservancy, environment and public facilities management, residential services, repair, and other services, education, health and social service, culture, sports and entertainment, public administration, social security, and social organizations. The second level of classification builds on the first level of classification by refining some of the categories of the industrial classification for national economic activities into broad industry categories.

The difference between the industrial classification in the preliminary accounting and final verification of annual GDP lies mainly in the level of refining applied to the second level of classification.

The second classification is based on the Regulations on the Classification of the Three Strata of Industry, revised by the NBS in 2018, and divides industries into the primary, secondary, and tertiary industries. The primary industry refers to agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, and fishery (excluding agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery specialties and auxiliary activities); the secondary industry refers to mining (excluding mining specialties and auxiliary activities), manufacturing (excluding fabricated metal products, machinery and equipment repair), production and supply of electricity, thermal power, gas and water, and construction; the tertiary industry, i.e., the service industry, refers to industries other than the primary and secondary industries (excluding international organizations).

2.2 Source of data

The preliminary accounting of annual GDP adopts the quarterly GDP accounting method and uses data sources; only the data sources for the final verification of annual GDP are introduced here.

First, national statistical survey information refers to a variety of annual reports obtained from statistical surveys conducted by the national statistical system, such as the annual statistical surveys on agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery, industry, construction, wholesale and retail trades, hotels and catering services, real estate, and services by enterprises above the designated size, household surveys as well as annual statistics on population, labor and wage, prices, and so on.

Second, sector-specific annual financial statistics refer to the annual financial statistics of respective industries, which are compiled under the unified framework formulated by the NBS and collected by relevant administrative authorities and some state-owned enterprises, such as the annual financial statistics of the affiliated enterprises or public institutions summarized by the Ministry of Transport, the National Health Commission, and China Petrochemical Corporation.

Third, final fiscal accounts refer to the fiscal revenue and expenditure final accounts compiled by the Ministry of Finance, as well as the revenue and expenditure final accounts of public institutions affiliated to central government departments.

Fourth, the administrative record and information of the administrative authorities mainly include relevant data from the State Taxation Administration, the People’s Bank of China, the National Financial Regulatory Administration, China Securities Regulatory Commission. These data include local and foreign currency credit income and expenditure information of financial institutions of the People’s Bank of China, and tax information of the State Taxation Administration in different industries.

2.3 Accounting methods

The method adopted for the preliminary accounting of annual GDP is the same as that for the quarterly GDP accounting, and will not be described here. Below is the method for the final verification of annual GDP.

2.3.1 Accounting method of value added at current prices

For different industries, value added at current prices is calculated with either the production-based method or the income-based method, depending on the availability of basic data.

2.3.2 Accounting method of value added at constant prices

The value added at constant prices by sector is calculated by the fixed base period method. At present, the base period is changed every five years, and the base period of value added at constant prices since 2021 is 2020.

The accounting of annual GDP at constant prices is mainly based on the price index deflation method and extrapolation of volume indices.

2.3.2.1 Price index deflation method

The value added at constant prices is calculated by deflating the value added at current prices with the relevant price indices. The calculation formula is:

Value added at constant prices of a certain sector = Value added at current prices of the sector ÷ Price index of the sector.

2.3.2.2 Extrapolation of volume indices

The growth rate of value added at constant prices is extrapolated by using the growth rate of relevant volume indices, and then the value added at constant prices of the sector in the current period is calculated by using the value added at constant prices in the previous year and the extrapolated growth rate of value added at constant prices. The calculation formula is:

Value added at constant prices of a certain sector = Value added at constant prices of the sector in the previous year × (1 + Growth rate of value added at constant prices of the sector)

Among them, the growth rate of value added at constant prices is determined according to the growth rate of relevant volume indices (such as freight turnover and the number of employees) in the current period and the quantitative relationship between the growth rate of value added at constant prices and the growth rate of relevant volume indices in previous years.

3. Revision of annual GDP data

3.1 Necessity of revision

The results of the preliminary accounting of annual GDP are highly time-sensitive, and are generally released around 20 days after the end of the year. At this point, since a large volume of annual financial data isn’t available in time to meet the requirements for annual GDP accounting, the basic data used for the preliminary accounting of annual GDP consist entirely of monthly and quarterly data, which means the resulting annual GDP data are based largely on estimation. Later, as the availability of basic data increases, especially with the gradual submission of annual financial data, as a general international practice, GDP data should be revised as appropriate based on more comprehensive and reliable basic data.

3.2 Revision procedures

According to the GDP accounting and data release policies of the NBS, annual GDP accounting in China is divided into two steps: preliminary accounting and final verification, and the final verification is the revision of the results of preliminary accounting. After the national economic census is carried out, if new basic data that have a great influence on GDP data are found, or if the calculation method and classification standard have changed, the historical annual GDP data should also be revised.

4. Annual GDP data quality evaluation

4.1 Evaluation of basic data

Relevant specialized statistical departments and administrative authorities will examine the quality of specialized statistical data and administrative record data used in GDP accounting to ensure that the data reasonably reflect the actual situation of economic development. When the GDP accounting department receives these basic data, it will check the completeness, comparability and accuracy of the data again to ensure that these data meet the concept and requirements of GDP accounting.

4.2 Evaluation of accounting methods

In the GDP accounting, the GDP accounting department will revise the annual GDP accounting method according to the evolving economic reality of China and the constantly improving international standards for national economic accounting, to ensure the rationality of the accounting method.

4.3 Evaluation of accounting results

After the annual GDP accounting results are obtained, consistency checks are conducted on the GDP data and the data of its components, the GDP data and other accounting data, the GDP data and the data of related specialties and departments, so as to ensure that the GDP data are consistent and aligned with other major relevant statistics.

4.4 Comparability of data

4.4.1 International comparability

The China’s System of National Accounts (2016) adopted the basic accounting principles, contents, and methods of the United Nations System of National Accounts (2008), so that the GDP data is internationally comparable.

4.4.2 Comparability of time series

Following the national census or changes in calculation methods and classification standards, not only have the GDP data of the current year been recalculated, but also historical GDP data have been revised, so that the annual GDP time series released since 1952 is comparable.

5. Annual GDP data release

5.1 Time of release

The results of the preliminary accounting of annual GDP are generally released around January 20 of the next year, and final annual GDP verifications are released not later than January of the year after next.

5.2 Methods of release

The results of the preliminary accounting of annual GDP are published in the annual press conference on the operation of the national economy, on the website of the NBS (www.stats.gov.cn), and in the China Monthly Economic Indicators. Final annual GDP verifications are published as the announcements of the NBS on the website of the NBS (www.stats.gov.cn/), as well as the China Statistical Abstract and the China Statistical Yearbook of the year after next, and updated synchronously in the database of the NBS (http://data.stats.gov.cn/).