China’s gross domestic product (GDP) exceeded 114 trillion yuan (about $18.1 trillion) in 2021, registering an increase of 8.1 percent over the previous year and an average growth of 5.1 percent over the preceding two years, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said in a release (link in Chinese) on Monday (28th, Feb, 2022).
In 2021, consumption contributed 5.3 percentage points to GDP growth, with investment making up 1.1 percentage points and exports 1.7 percentage points, according to the release.
The country’s total retail sales of consumer goods reached 44.1 trillion yuan last year, up 12.5 percent compared to the year before.
Nationwide investment in fixed assets (excluding rural households) reached 54.5 trillion yuan, a 4.9-percent jump over the previous year.
China’s foreign trade volume of goods reached 39.1 trillion yuan in 2021, up 21.4 percent year on year. Exports and imports respectively increased 21.2 percent and 21.5 percent in 2021.
The NBS said that China’s population rose to 1.41 billion by the end of 2021. The country’s per capita GDP was 80,976 yuan, and disposable income averaged 35,128 yuan, with a year-on-year increase of 8 percent and 9.1 percent respectively.
Rising GDP also means more jobs. China’s job market remained stable last year. Surveyed unemployment rate in urban areas stood at 5.1 percent, according to the release. Nearly 12.7 million new jobs were created in urban areas, about 830,000 higher than the previous year.
The country’s CPI rose by 0.9 percent for the full year of 2021, while PPI grew by 8.1 percent.
The added value of industrial enterprises above the designated size increased by 9.6 percent year on year in 2021.
At the end of last year, China’s foreign exchange reserves stood at about $3.25 trillion, increasing $33.6 billion from a year earlier.