China’s GDP Rises 8.1% in 2021, Growth Slows to 4.0% in Fourth Quarter

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The latest official data points to robust growth in the Chinese economy in 2021 despite the adverse impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, which contributed to a marked slowdown in growth as the year advanced.

China’s GDP was 114.367 trillion yuan in 2021, for a nominal increase of 8.1% compared to 2021, and a two-year average growth rate of 5.1%.

Year-on-year growth stood at 18.3% in the first quarter – abetted by the low baseline set in 2020 at the start of the COVID pandemic.

YoY growth subsequently eased to 7.9% in the second quarter, 4.9% in the third quarter, before further easing to 4.0% in the fourth quarter.

Value-added for primary industries was 8.3086 trillion yuan in 2021, for a YoY rise of 7.1%, while for secondary industries the figure was 45.0904 trillion yuan, for a YoY rise of 8.2%. The figure for tertiary industries was 60.9680 trillion yuan, for an increase of 8.2%.

Nationwide fixed asset investment was 54.4547 trillion yuan in 2021, for a YoY rise of 4.9%, and a two-year average of 3.9%. This included 0.4% growth in infrastructure investment, 13.5% growth in manufacturing sector investment, and 4.4% growth in real estate development investment.

CPI rose by 0.9% in 2021, and the nation-wide urban employment figure was 5.1% on average as well as in December, for a decline of 0.5 percentage points compared to 2020.