The World's Factory

How much of each economy is still making things — and is the world deindustrializing?

Manufacturing value added as a share of GDP shows how much of an economy is factory output rather than services or resources. China leads the six — the manufacturing heartland — but even China's share has drifted down from the low-30s toward the mid-20s as its own service sector grows. The wider pattern is a gentle, near-universal decline: Japan and Germany hold the advanced-world high ground near 18–19%, while the United States has fallen to around 10%.

Read level, slope and timing together.

This is a share, not a volume: a falling ratio can coexist with rising absolute output, and it says nothing about who makes the most in dollars — China's absolute manufacturing dwarfs the field.

• China is the manufacturing leader here, but its share slips as services grow — deindustrialization reaches even the workshop of the world.
• Germany and Japan are the advanced holdouts near 18%, having retained far more industry than the US.
• The US sits lowest, around 10% — the most service-tilted of the six by this measure.

• What grew instead?→The Service Economy
• How much does it invest?→The Investment Gap
• How exposed is it to trade?→Exposure to Trade