Shanghai GDP tops $198b in Q1 on the back of secondary industry

Shanghai's GDP reached 1.35 trillion yuan ($198.24 billion) in the first quarter of 2026, up 5.9 percent year-on-year, according to the data released by the municipal statistics bureau on Wednesday.

Robust growth in the secondary industry has fueled the city's upward economic momentum. The added value of the secondary industry exceeded 250.9 billion yuan in the first three months, up 5.2 percent from a year earlier.

Under closer scrutiny, industrial strategic emerging industries have served as major contributors, with the output value of new energy vehicle companies, new energy providers and high-end equipment up by 34.9 percent, 18.8 percent and 9.3 percent, respectively.

The three pioneering industries of integrated circuit, artificial intelligence and biomedicine also served as important economic drivers, with their respective annual growth reaching 21.3 percent, 19.2 percent and 9.6 percent in the first quarter.

Traditional industries such as railway, shipbuilding, aerospace, and other transportation equipment manufacturing also remained strong, showing a year-on-year output increase of 15.2 percent. Automobile manufacturing jumped 12.7 percent from a year earlier.

The city's tertiary industry reported steady year-on-year growth of 6 percent in the first quarter, with the added value topping 1,099.6 billion yuan. The added value of the information transmission, software, and information technology services industry approached 188.04 billion yuan, an increase of 9.3 percent, while that for the transportation, warehousing and postal industry exceeded 49 billion yuan, up 4.1 percent from a year earlier.

Shanghai’s role as a financial center has been further consolidated. The city saw the added value of the financial industry surge 10.1 percent year-on-year to reach 240.91 billion yuan in the first quarter.

This can be largely attributed to the high vibrancy at the city’s major trading venues. While Shanghai saw its total financial trading value spike 35.7 percent year-on-year to 1,142.84 trillion yuan in the first three months, the transaction value completed at the Shanghai Futures Exchange increased by 1.2 times, while that at the Shanghai Gold Exchange soared by 49.4 percent. The turnover of securities at the Shanghai Stock Exchange increased by 33.5 percent from a year earlier.

The city’s fixed asset investment increased by 7.6 percent year-on-year in the first quarter. To further break down, industrial investment rose by 22.8 percent year-on-year, while urban infrastructure investment increased by 13.7 percent. Over 3.97 million square meters of newly constructed commercial housing were sold in the first quarter, remaining flat from that of 2025.

Foreign trade has remained strong. Shanghai saw its total import and export value of goods reach 1.23 trillion yuan in the first quarter, a year-on-year increase of 21.9 percent. The export value of goods jumped 16.3 percent year-on-year to 540 billion yuan, with the export of electric vehicles increasing by 1.4 times from a year earlier. The value of imports surged 26.6 percent to 690 billion yuan.

Shanghai’s total retail sales of consumer goods approached 428.15 billion yuan in the first three months, up 5.5 percent from a year earlier.

Disposable income per capita of Shanghai residents averaged 26,689 yuan in the first quarter, an increase of 3.6 percent on a yearly basis. The city's average urban unemployment rate came to 4.1 percent.