Shanghai's GDP rose 5.9 percent year-on-year to over 1.35 trillion yuan ($198 billion) in the first quarter of 2026, according to official data released on April 22.

Industrial production and emerging industries

Gross industrial output value of enterprises above a designated size, or those with annual main business revenue of at least 20 million yuan, rose 5.6 percent year-on-year in the first quarter. Output value in the railway, shipbuilding, aerospace, and other transportation equipment manufacturing sectors increased 15.2 percent.

Output from the city's three leading industries rose 16.1 percent, with integrated circuit manufacturing, artificial intelligence manufacturing, and biopharmaceutical manufacturing up 21.3 percent, 19.2 percent, and 9.6 percent, respectively.

Output from strategic emerging industries in the industrial sector increased 8.6 percent. Among them, new energy vehicle manufacturing surged 34.9 percent.

Services sector

The tertiary sector, or the service industry, grew 6 percent year-on-year. Within this sector, the financial industry added about 240.91 billion yuan in value, up 10.1 percent from a year earlier.

Investment and consumption

Fixed-asset investment in Shanghai rose 7.6 percent in the first quarter. Industrial investment increased 22.8 percent, while urban infrastructure investment was up 13.7 percent.

Total retail sales of consumer goods reached 428.15 billion yuan, up 5.5 percent year-on-year. Online retail sales by enterprises above a designated size, or those with annual main business revenue of at least 5 million yuan, rose 11.2 percent year-on-year.

Financial markets and foreign trade

Trading on Shanghai's financial markets remained active, with total transaction value rising 35.7 percent to 1,142.84 trillion yuan. Trading value on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose 120 percent, while that on the Shanghai Gold Exchange increased 49.4 percent.

Shanghai's total goods imports and exports climbed 21.9 percent year-on-year to 1.23 trillion yuan, with exports reaching 540 billion yuan, up 16.3 percent, and imports totaling 690 billion yuan, up 26.6 percent.

Prices, income, and employment

Shanghai's consumer price index rose 0.6 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, while core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, increased 1.1 percent.

Per capita disposable income of Shanghai residents rose 3.6 percent year-on-year to 26,689 yuan in the first quarter. The surveyed urban unemployment rate averaged 4.1 percent.

Source: Shanghai Bureau of Statistics