For the first three quarters of this year, the rankings of the top ten provinces by economic output have been settled.
According to gross domestic product (GDP) arranged from high to low, the top ten provincial economies are Guangdong, Jiangsu, Shandong, Zhejiang, Sichuan, Henan, Hubei, Fujian, Shanghai, and Anhui.
Compared with the same period last year, the most notable change is that Anhui surpassed Hunan to capture the last spot in the top ten. As early as the first half of this year, Anhui overtook Hunan by 33.643 billion yuan to enter the national top ten provinces. In the first three quarters, Anhui continued to lead Hunan by a margin of 76.434 billion yuan, with Anhui's third-quarter economic output exceeding Hunan's by 42.791 billion yuan, further widening the GDP gap between the two.
An examination of the third-quarter reports of various provinces reveals that emerging industries have become the core lever for major economic provinces to widen their growth gaps. Key sectors such as integrated circuits and intelligent equipment posted strong growth in the third quarter, exports of "new three" products performed impressively, and foreign trade volumes continued to achieve breakthroughs.
As the year enters its final sprint, what new changes have appeared in the national economic landscape? What new signals are major economic provinces sending?
On the whole, in the first three quarters of 2026, the economic map of the country's 31 provinces has largely continued the pattern seen in the first half, with no new changes in the rankings of the top ten GDP provinces. Among them, eastern coastal provinces continued to maintain their leading advantage in economic output, while central and western provinces showed stronger vitality in economic growth.
A review by Southern Finance reporters found that all top ten provinces exceeded 4 trillion yuan in economic output. Guangdong's GDP reached 11,109.077 billion yuan, continuing to rank first nationwide. Jiangsu followed closely, with GDP reaching 10,863.13 billion yuan in the first three quarters, ranking second nationwide. The chart shows the main economic conditions of the top 20 provinces by economic output in the first three quarters of 2026.
In terms of economic增量 in the first three quarters, among the top ten GDP provinces, Guangdong had the largest increment, leading with an increase of 591.977 billion yuan, while Jiangsu ranked second with an increment of 582.03 billion yuan. Industrial production, especially advanced manufacturing, was the main driver of economic growth for Guangdong and Jiangsu in the first three quarters.
In terms of supporting momentum, in the first three quarters of 2026, Guangdong's gross domestic product grew by 4.6% year-on-year, 0.1 percentage points faster than in the first half, achieving economic growth in sync with the national average. Specifically, Guangdong's advantageous industries played a prominent supporting role. Industry, finance, and information services formed the three core pillars, together contributing more than 70% to economic growth. Among them, industry contributed 45.5%, and the share of industrial added value in regional GDP rose to 34%. In particular, since the beginning of this year, the artificial intelligence wave has driven rapid expansion of the electronics industry, with the added value of large-scale computer, communication, and other electronic equipment manufacturing maintaining double-digit growth of 11.2%, driving Guangdong's large-scale industrial added value up by 3.2 percentage points and contributing more than 50% to large-scale industry. At the same time, foreign trade reached a new breakthrough, providing new momentum for Guangdong's economy. In the first three quarters, Guangdong's total imports and exports exceeded the 8 trillion yuan mark for the first time in the same period in history, accounting for 21.8% of the national total, up 24.5% year-on-year, 3.7 percentage points faster than in the first half.
The development of emerging industries has become a new growth driver for Jiangsu's economy. In the first three quarters of 2026, Jiangsu's large-scale high-tech manufacturing added value grew by 15.1%, and high-tech service industry revenue expanded steadily. High-tech industries contributed more than one-half and one-third to the growth of industry and services, respectively, making high-tech industries, digital industries, and emerging industries the main forces driving growth. The rapid development of AI-related industries was also a highlight of Jiangsu's economy. In the first three quarters, Jiangsu's large-scale digital product manufacturing added value grew by 13.7%, with integrated circuits and electronic circuits growing by 28.3% and 25.4%, respectively. Output of industrial robots and robot reducers grew by 47.1% and 44.6%, respectively. In terms of export trade, high-end products became an important force in Jiangsu's export growth. In the first three quarters, electromechanical products accounted for 75.1% of Jiangsu's exports, driving export growth by nearly 25 percentage points, with high value-added products such as computer parts, ships, and intelligent terminals growing substantially, as Jiangsu's foreign trade transitions from "scale exports" to "quality exports and technology exports."
After Guangdong and Jiangsu, Shandong's GDP broke through the 8 trillion yuan mark in the first three quarters of 2026, firmly holding third place with 8,230.9 billion yuan. Sichuan and Henan entered the "5 trillion club" for the first time, forming a "second tier." Among them, Sichuan's GDP reached 5,212.145 billion yuan, and Henan's GDP reached 5,189.932 billion yuan, with both provinces' year-on-year growth rates exceeding the national average by 0.3 and 0.4 percentage points, respectively.
The biggest highlight of Henan's economy came from foreign trade. Statistics show that in the first three quarters, Henan's total goods imports and exports reached 816.84 billion yuan, exceeding 800 billion yuan for the first time in the same period in history, up 26.7% year-on-year, 7.9 percentage points above the national average. Among them, exports were 488.55 billion yuan, up 15.7%, and imports were 328.29 billion yuan, up 47.6%.
In the top 20 list, compared with the GDP rankings in the first three quarters of 2025, Jiangxi's GDP surpassed Shaanxi's, rising from 15th to 14th, while other provinces' rankings remained unchanged. According to Jiangxi Daily, in the first three quarters of this year, Jiangxi's total goods trade imports and exports reached 421.30 billion yuan, up 19.4% year-on-year. In addition, Jiangxi's high-end manufacturing accelerated its expansion. In the first three quarters, the added value growth rates of Jiangxi's equipment manufacturing and high-tech manufacturing exceeded the large-scale industrial growth rate by 4.9 and 6.4 percentage points, respectively, with their shares increasing compared with the same period last year. Exports of "new three" products surged, providing strong support for Jiangxi's economic overtaking. Rising demand for new energy vehicles and energy storage drove Jiangxi's lithium battery industry added value up 21.1% year-on-year. The "new content" and "green content" of exported products also continued to rise, with exports of "new three" products up 32.1% year-on-year, among which exports of electric passenger vehicles maintained growth of more than double.
In terms of economic growth rates in the first three quarters, the top ten GDP provinces ranked from high to low are: Shandong (5.6%), Zhejiang (5.6%), Shanghai (5.5%), Anhui (5.3%), Jiangsu (5.2%), Henan (5.0%), Sichuan (4.9%), Hubei (4.7%), Guangdong (4.6%), and Fujian (3.9%).
Zhejiang and Shandong led the pack, both with growth rates of 5.6%. In the first three quarters of this year, Shandong delivered a solid report card. As a major industrial province, industry is Shandong's "ballast stone." In the first three quarters, Shandong's large-scale industrial added value grew by 7.4% year-on-year, 0.4 percentage points faster than in the first half and 2.1 percentage points above the national average. In the first half of this year, Shandong's industry came under pressure at one point, with large-scale industrial added value growing 7.3% in January-April and slowing to 6.7% in January-May. Entering the third quarter, Shandong focused its efforts precisely, and industrial growth climbed steadily, reaching 7.4% in January-September. The image shows the urban landscape of Yantai, Shandong. File photo. At present, Shandong is taking a new generation of intelligent manufacturing as its main direction, deeply advancing the digital and intelligent transformation of manufacturing, and empowering the renewal and upgrading of traditional industries. Data show that in the first three quarters, Shandong's high-tech manufacturing added value grew by 13.1%, 5.7 percentage points higher than large-scale industry. The most eye-catching was lithium-ion batteries, whose output growth rate reached 195.4% in the first three quarters of this year. The rapid development of high-tech manufacturing also helped Shandong deliver a high-scoring export "answer sheet" and further fed back into industrial investment growth. In foreign trade, in the first three quarters, Shandong's automobile exports grew by 46.2%, and exports of "new three" products reached 14.65 billion yuan, up 40.9%, with electric vehicles, lithium batteries, and photovoltaic products growing by 27.9%, 63.2%, and 52.4%, respectively. In the first three quarters, Shandong organized 6,500 enterprises to participate in 440 overseas exhibition and negotiation activities, producing a number of blockbuster export products for 2026, such as integrated housing and integrated solar-storage solutions. In industrial investment, in the first three quarters, Shandong's hydropower and wind power industry investment grew by 103.1% and 55.9%, respectively, with major projects such as offshore wind power, pumped storage, and nuclear power successively landing, and the investment structure continuing to shift toward green and new areas.
Zhejiang's growth rate synchronized with Shandong's. In the first three quarters, Zhejiang's large-scale industrial added value grew by 7.8% year-on-year, with emerging industries among the fastest-growing areas. Specifically, in the first three quarters, added value in Zhejiang's automobile, computer communication electronics, and general equipment manufacturing grew by 20.3%, 19.5%, and 10.1%, respectively. Added value in high-tech manufacturing, digital economy core industry manufacturing, and equipment manufacturing grew by 16.0%, 15.8%, and 12.9%, respectively. Output of AI terminals and intelligent equipment products continued to grow rapidly, with output of service robots, industrial control computers and systems, and industrial robots growing by 91.0%, 50.6%, and 37.5%, respectively.
Among central provinces, Hubei, Henan, and Anhui all recorded GDP growth rates above the national average in the first three quarters of 2026. Anhui's GDP growth rate reached 5.3% in the first three quarters of 2026, ranking fourth nationwide, while Henan's GDP growth rate also reached 5.0% during the same period, exceeding the national average by 0.4 percentage points. In terms of incremental growth, Anhui ranked fifth nationwide with an increment of 293.1 billion yuan, with industry and foreign trade working together to support a substantial increase in Anhui's economic output. The welding workshop of Chery Automobile in Wuhu, Anhui, has achieved 100% automation in welding processes. File photo. First, advanced manufacturing made a prominent contribution to Anhui. The contribution rate of Anhui's high-tech manufacturing to large-scale industrial added value growth climbed month by month, exceeding 70% in July, August, and September. Second, in foreign trade, in the first three quarters of this year, Anhui's general trade imports and exports reached 737.28 billion yuan, up 46.1%, accounting for 74.5% of the province's total foreign trade value, 14.6 percentage points higher than the national average. The development of high-tech manufacturing further enhanced export resilience. In the first three quarters, Anhui's equipment manufacturing played a prominent leading role, with automobile exports reaching 1.728 million units, up 1.2 times, and export value reaching 181.11 billion yuan, up 1.1 times, with both export volume and export value ranking first nationwide. Laptop exports reached 40.89 billion yuan, up 6.6%. During the same period, exports of "new three" products reached 145.46 billion yuan, up 1.3 times, accounting for 20.9% of the province's total export value, 7.9 percentage points higher than the same period last year.
In the view of industry experts, major economic provinces across the country pushed forward under pressure in the first three quarters, moving toward new and better development, with more positive changes in major indicators and new achievements in high-quality development. At the same time, it should be noted that the international environment is complex and volatile, the problem of insufficient domestic demand remains prominent, and the foundation for a stable and improving economy still needs to be consolidated. For major economic provinces, in the next stage, they still need to step up efforts to expand domestic demand, optimize supply, and promote economic development that is newer, better, and more positive.
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