China Q3 2026 GDP: growth picks up to 4.5% as prices rise for a second quarter
China's gross domestic product (GDP), the value of all goods and services it produces, grew 4.5% from a year earlier in Q3 2026. That is up from 4.3% in Q2. Growth at current prices reached 6.0% as prices rose again.
A data update from FactIQ, written from National Bureau of Statistics of China figures. What is FactIQ?
Key figures
- China real GDP growth, Q3 2026, compared with a year earlier
- 4.5%up from 4.3% in Q2, below 5.0% in Q12024-07-012026-07-01National Accounts - Indices of Gross Domestic Product - Indices of Gross Domestic Product (preceding year=100) , Current Quarter
- China GDP growth at current prices, Q3 2026, compared with a year earlier
- 6.0%up from 5.9% in Q2 and 3.7% a year ago
- China GDP at current prices, Q3 2026
- 375,367 hundred-million yuancompared with 354,106.2 in Q3 20252024-07-012026-07-01National Accounts - Gross Domestic Product (Current Price) - Gross Domestic Product, Current Quarter
- China real GDP growth from the previous quarter, Q3 2026
- 1.2%up from 0.9%
Real growth sped up in the third quarter but stayed below the start of the year
The National Bureau of Statistics' index of real gross domestic product (GDP), set so that the same quarter of the previous year equals 100, rose to 104.5 in the third quarter of 2026. Real GDP strips out price changes, so it shows how much more the economy produced. The index means growth of 4.5% from a year earlier.- Growth was 4.3% in Q2 and 5.0% in Q1.
- Growth from the previous quarter picked up to 1.2% from 0.9%.
- Growth for the year to date slipped to 4.6% from 4.7% in the first half.
Prices across the economy are now rising, led by industry
GDP at current prices was 375,367 hundred-million yuan (about 37.5 trillion yuan) in Q3. That is 6.0% above the 354,106.2 of Q3 2025. Growth at current prices was 5.9% in Q2, 3.9% in Q4 2025 and 3.7% a year ago. Comparing current-price and real growth suggests the economy-wide price level rose about 1.5% from a year earlier. A year earlier it fell about 1.1%. Prices have now risen for two straight quarters.- Industry output grew about 7.0% at current prices and 3.4% in real terms, which points to industrial prices up about 3.5%.
- That fits September's 5.0% rise in producer prices, the prices factories charge, with oil above $100.
- Services prices rose only about 0.7%.
- Agriculture grew 1.9% at current prices and 3.6% in real terms, so its prices are still falling.
Services drove real growth, while industry is still weaker than in Q1
Services grew 5.2%, up from 5.1% in Q2. Industry and construction grew 3.4%, up from 3.0%, but remain well below Q1's 4.9%. Agriculture held at 3.6%.Source: National Bureau of Statistics of China. See all NBS data in FactIQ.
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