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2004-2023: A 20-Year Data Report on the Added Value of China's Cultural Industry

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2025-02-02

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Author | Fig

Main Editor | Yang Ming

Editor in charge | Liu Kaiye

Source | Sanchuanhui Culture and Technology According to the results of the fifth national economic census, after calculation, the added value of the national cultural and related industries in 2023 was 5.9464 trillion yuan, accounting for 4.59% of the gross domestic product (GDP), an increase of 0.17 percentage points over the previous year. The author's analysis of the national cultural industry added value statistics over the past 20 years shows that 2023 marks the first time in the past five years that the growth rate of cultural industry added value has achieved a new breakthrough. However, at this growth rate, there is still a long way to go to achieve the goal of becoming a pillar industry of the national economy.

Recently, according to data released from the fifth national economic census, in 2023, the added value of the national cultural industry climbed to 5.9464 trillion yuan, accounting for 4.59% of the gross domestic product, an increase of 0.17 percentage points over the previous year. Among them, the cultural service industry occupies a dominant position, accounting for 69.2% of the added value of the cultural industry; the core cultural sector has made outstanding contributions, accounting for as high as 71.2%. These positive developments indicate that the cultural industry has become one of the key driving forces for promoting high-quality economic development in China.

Through an in-depth analysis of the National Bureau of Statistics' 20 years of data on the added value of the cultural industry, as of 2023, the proportion of China's cultural industry added value in the gross domestic product has increased by a cumulative 2.44 percentage points, with an average annual increase of approximately 0.122 percentage points (2.44%/20 years = 0.122). However, based on the current average annual growth rate, it is estimated that it will take another 3 to 5 years (approximately 3.36 years, calculated as (5%-4.59%)/0.122% ≈ 3.36) to achieve the goal of becoming a pillar industry of the national economy (accounting for more than 5%).

Exploring the 20-Year Growth of Cultural Industry Added Value

Since the implementation of the statistical system of "Classification of Culture and Related Industries (2004)" in 2004, China's cultural industry has experienced two decades of vigorous development. The data on the added value of the cultural industry has changed year by year, not only outlining a clear trajectory of industrial growth, but also profoundly revealing the characteristics and market laws of economic structural optimization and cultural consumption pattern transformation in different periods.

Before and after the "Eleventh Five-Year Plan", China's cultural industry showed amazing development potential, with an average annual growth rate of added value as high as 24.8%. According to past statistical data, in 2010, the national cultural industry added value jumped from 344 billion yuan in 2004 to 1105.2 billion yuan, achieving a year-on-year increase of 25.8%; the proportion of GDP during the same period increased from 2.15% in 2004 to 2.58%, an increase of nearly 0.6 percentage points, marking the continuous improvement of the cultural industry's position in the national economy.

Entering the "Twelfth Five-Year Plan" period, China's cultural industry entered a stage of in-depth structural adjustment. Although the growth rate slowed down, the internal structure was increasingly optimized. In 2011, the added value of the cultural industry reached a new high of 1347.9 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 21.96%, and the proportion of GDP reached 3.28%. However, affected by global economic fluctuations, especially the impact of the European and American debt crisis in 2013, the growth rate of the cultural industry began to fluctuate. Although the added value of the cultural industry in 2014 still reached 2394 billion yuan, the year-on-year growth rate had fallen to 12.13%, and the proportion of GDP was 3.76%.

During the "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan" period, the growth rate of China's cultural industry was further slowed down by the impact of the macroeconomic environment, but the internal structure continued to be optimized, and emerging industries emerged. From 2015 to 2019, the growth rate of the added value of the cultural industry remained stable at around 13%, and both the proportion of GDP and the growth rate showed a gradual contraction trend. During this period, emerging industries such as "culture +", "tourism +", and "technology +" rapidly emerged, injecting new vitality into the cultural industry. In particular, in 2019, in the face of many challenges, the added value of the cultural industry still maintained a positive growth of 7.8%.

Entering the "Fourteenth Five-Year Plan" period, the sudden COVID-19 epidemic brought unprecedented shocks to the cultural industry. However, thanks to the cultivation of new industries in the early stage and the strong empowerment of national and local policies, the cultural industry has shown strong resilience and recovery ability. In 2020, the added value of the cultural industry stabilized at around 4.5 trillion yuan. Although the year-on-year growth was only 1.3%, and the proportion of GDP fell to 4.43%, it still maintained positive growth. At the same time, the deep integration of culture and technology accelerated, and digitalization, networking, and intelligence became new trends in cultural consumption.

With the phased achievements in epidemic prevention and control, the cultural industry has ushered in a strong rebound. In 2021, the added value of the cultural industry exceeded the 5 trillion yuan mark for the first time, reaching 5238.5 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 16.6%, and the proportion of GDP increased to 4.56%, further highlighting the important position of the cultural industry in the national economy. In 2022, despite the continued impact of the epidemic, the year-on-year growth rate of the added value of the cultural industry still remained at 2.7%, and the proportion of GDP remained stable. During this period, emerging cultural industries became the main driving force for growth, effectively promoting the transformation and upgrading of the cultural industry.

Entering 2023, with the continuous optimization of epidemic prevention and control measures and the comprehensive recovery of the economic and social development, China's cultural industry has ushered in the development opportunity of revitalization and recovery. In 2023, the added value of the cultural industry approached the 6 trillion yuan mark, reaching 5946.4 billion yuan, an increase of more than 700 billion yuan compared to last year, and an increase of 5600 billion yuan compared to 2004, with an average annual growth rate of approximately 15.04%; the proportion of GDP was 4.59%, an increase of 0.17 percentage points over the previous year, and an increase of 2.44 percentage points compared to 2004, with an average annual increase of approximately 0.122 percentage points.

In summary, over the past 20 years, the added value of China's cultural industry has maintained a stable growth rate of 15.04% per year, and the proportion of GDP has also increased year by year to 4.59%. These changes in data not only reflect the continuous improvement of the cultural industry's position in the national economy, but also indicate that the cultural industry will continue to maintain a good trend of high-quality development in the future, injecting new and strong impetus into economic and social development.

Structural Changes in the Added Value of the "Three Major Industries"

Through an in-depth analysis of the added value of the cultural industry, we can clearly see that after 20 years of market tempering and reform and development, the internal structure of the cultural industry has undergone a profound historical transformation. In this process, the growth space of traditional advantageous industries has gradually been limited, while emerging cultural industries, although having huge potential, still need to further expand their market scale. These factors together constitute the key variables driving the high-quality development of the cultural industry.

According to the latest data from the fifth national economic census, in 2023, the added value of the cultural service industry reached 4115.8 billion yuan, accounting for 69.2% of the added value of the cultural industry, an increase of 2.3 percentage points over the previous year; the added value of the cultural manufacturing industry was 1216.8 billion yuan, accounting for 20.5%, a year-on-year decrease of 2.6 percentage points; the added value of cultural wholesale and retail industries was 613.8 billion yuan, accounting for 10.3%, a slight increase of 0.3 percentage points over the previous year. From the data changes from 2010 to 2023, the development trends of the three major industries show obvious differences.

(1) The cultural service industry occupies a dominant position

（一）文化服务业占据主导地位

In 2023, the added value of the cultural services industry exceeded 4 trillion yuan, reaching 41,158 billion yuan. This represents a 69.2% share of the total added value of the cultural industry, a 6.2 percentage point increase compared to 2019 (63.0%). Looking back ten years to 2014, the added value of the cultural services industry accounted for only 48.6%. In 2023, this proportion jumped to 69.2%, a significant increase of 20.6 percentage points, with an average annual growth rate of 4.0%, reflecting its strong growth over the past decade.

This significant growth not only highlights the leading role of the cultural services industry in the cultural industry but also reflects its strong development momentum driven by digital transformation, content innovation, and consumption upgrades. For example, the rapid rise of emerging service sectors such as the digital content industry, online entertainment, and online audio-visual services has injected new vitality into the cultural services industry. In the future, with the popularization of 5G, artificial intelligence, and other technologies in the cultural field, the cultural services industry is expected to become the core engine driving the high-quality development of the cultural industry.

(II) Significant Decline in the Growth of the Cultural Manufacturing Industry

In sharp contrast to the cultural services industry, the growth of the cultural manufacturing industry has slowed significantly. In 2023, the added value of the cultural manufacturing industry was 12,168 billion yuan, accounting for 20.5%, a year-on-year decrease of 2.6 percentage points. Compared with 27.0% in 2019, this proportion has decreased by 6.5 percentage points; compared with 41.4% in 2014, it has decreased by about 21 percentage points over the past decade, with an average annual decrease of 2.1%. This trend shows that, in the process of the continuous evolution of the internal structure of the cultural industry, the cultural manufacturing industry is gradually losing its former dominant position.

The main reason behind this is that, after more than 20 years of rapid development, the current traditional cultural manufacturing model has gradually lost its market competitiveness under the influence of multiple factors such as rising costs, changing demand, and environmental pressures. In particular, the market share of printing and publishing, cultural and creative product development, and traditional handicraft manufacturing has continued to shrink. In the future, the cultural manufacturing industry urgently needs to explore new growth paths and reshape its industry competitiveness through technological innovation, intelligent transformation, and brand upgrading.

(III) Stable Trend in Wholesale and Retail Industries

In 2023, the added value of the national cultural wholesale and retail industry reached 613.8 billion yuan, accounting for 10.3% of the total value of the cultural industry, a slight increase of 0.3 percentage points compared to last year. Looking back to 2019, the industry's share was 9.8%, and in the four years since, its share has steadily increased to 10.3%, a cumulative increase of 0.5 percentage points. Even compared to the 10.0% share in 2014, it has only increased by 0.3 percentage points, showing a moderate and stable growth trend.

Despite the limited increase, the industry has shown a robust growth trend. In recent years, with the rapid development of major e-commerce platforms on the Internet, consumers' shopping habits are undergoing profound changes, and the cultural wholesale and retail industry is gradually adapting to the new market environment. For example, new models such as online art transactions and cultural derivative product sales have injected new vitality into the industry. In the future, with the upgrading of consumption and the growth of personalized needs, this field is expected to further unleash its potential.

In summary, after twenty years of vigorous development, the internal structure of the "three major industries" in China's cultural industry has shown distinctly different development trends, with the rise of the cultural services industry being particularly noteworthy. In the next stage, we should further focus on strengthening our strengths and addressing our weaknesses, through precise policy measures and concerted efforts, to promote the development of related industries towards higher quality and higher efficiency, injecting new impetus into economic transformation and upgrading.

Dynamic Evolution of Cultural Core and Related Fields

The cultural industry is clearly divided into two major sectors: "cultural core areas" and "cultural related areas," based on the differences in the nature of their activities. After more than 20 years of rapid development, the internal structure of the "two major sectors" of China's cultural industry has shown a clear trend of differentiation. This differentiation not only reflects the changes in market demand but also reveals the rise of emerging cultural formats and the transformation pressure on traditional industries. The following section analyzes the specific performance of the nine industries and the evolutionary logic behind the data, starting with the structural changes in the two major fields.

(I) The Strong Rise of the Cultural Core Field

In recent years, the cultural core field has been particularly prominent, with its added value continuously increasing as a percentage of the cultural industry, showing strong growth momentum. In 2023, the added value of the cultural core field reached 42,312 billion yuan, accounting for 71.2% of the total value of the cultural industry; compared to 2019 (30.7%), its share increased by 1.9 percentage points; compared to 61.3% in 2014, it increased by nearly 10 percentage points, with an average annual growth of about 1 percentage point. This growth not only reflects its core position in the cultural industry but also reflects the growing consumer demand for high-quality cultural content.

1. Content Creation and Production Continues to Lead

Content creation and production occupies an important position in the cultural core field. In 2023, the national content creation and production industry achieved an added value of 14,989 billion yuan, accounting for 25.2% of the total value of the cultural industry for two consecutive years. Compared with 7,587 billion yuan when it was first included in the statistics in 2017, the added value has nearly doubled, and the proportion has also increased by 3.3 percentage points. Over the past seven years, content creation and production has consistently led the six industries, becoming the backbone of the cultural core field. This growth has also benefited from the integration of digital technologies and the surge in demand for high-quality content.

2. Stable Position of Creative Design Services

In recent years, cultural creative design services have maintained a good development trend among the six industries. In 2023, the added value reached 9,488 billion yuan, accounting for 16.0% of the added value of the cultural industry, a slight decrease of 0.6 percentage points year-on-year compared to 2022. Compared with 2014 (added value of 4,107 billion yuan), the industry has accumulated an increase of 5,381 billion yuan in 10 years. Although its share has reached its lowest level in the past five years, its ranking in the cultural core field has always been firmly in the leading second position, showing its important position in the cultural industry.

3. Steady Growth of News and Information Services

News and information services have maintained steady growth in the cultural core field in recent years. In 2023, the industry's added value was 8,982 billion yuan, accounting for 15.1% of the added value of the cultural industry. Compared with 4,864 billion yuan when it was first included in the statistics in 2017, it has accumulated an increase of 4,118 billion yuan in seven years, and the proportion has also increased by 1.1 percentage points, creating a historical high in seven years and firmly holding the third place in the core field industry. This growth reflects not only the market demand for news and information services but also benefits from digital transformation and the diversification of content distribution channels.

4. Cultural Dissemination Maintained within a Reasonable Range

In 2023, cultural dissemination channels (formerly cultural information transmission services) achieved an added value of 5,631 billion yuan in the cultural core field, with the proportion decreasing to 9.5%, down 0.5 percentage points compared to 2022 (10.0%), down 0.6 percentage points compared to 2014 (10.1%), and down 2.4 percentage points compared to the peak of 11.9% in 2019. Although the proportion has fluctuated over the past decade, its average annual growth rate has remained stable at around 10% within a reasonable range. With the continuous integration and expansion of cultural dissemination channels, the future growth rate of this industry is expected to further improve.

5. Cultural Leisure and Entertainment Facing Challenges

As one of China's traditional cultural industries, cultural, leisure, and entertainment services once played a vital supporting role in the early stages of cultural industry development across the country. However, in recent years, with the transformation and upgrading of cultural consumption and the continuous emergence of new formats, this industry has gradually entered a bottleneck period, showing a shrinking trend year by year. In 2023, the industry achieved an added value of 270.8 billion yuan. Although its proportion increased compared to 2022, it decreased by 2.5 percentage points compared to 2014, revealing the severe challenges and problems of internal structural aging it currently faces.

6. Untapped Potential in Cultural Investment and Operation

Cultural investment and operation, as a newly emerging cultural format in recent years, has gradually shown good market potential since it was officially included in the statistics of the core cultural field in 2017. In 2017, when it was first included in the statistics, its added value was only 19 billion yuan, accounting for only 0.5%. By 2023, the industry's added value not only exceeded 500 billion yuan, but although its proportion has remained stable at around 0.9% for six consecutive years, this growth trend undoubtedly lays a solid foundation for its future development.

(II) Insufficient Market Tension in Culture-Related Fields

Looking back at culture-related fields (covering three industries), the added value in 2023 reached 1715.2 billion yuan, but its proportion in the added value of the cultural industry fell to 28.8%. Compared with 2019, its proportion has shrunk by 1.9 percentage points, maintaining the same level for three consecutive years. Compared with 38.7% in 2014, the proportion of culture-related fields has decreased by 10 percentage points cumulatively, with an average annual decrease of about 1 percentage point over 10 years. This trend forms a sharp contrast with the upward trend in the core cultural field, highlighting the profound changes in its internal industry structure.

7. Recovery of Growth in Cultural Auxiliary Production

Cultural auxiliary production is the only industry in the culture-related field that has performed well. In 2014, the industry's added value was 283.5 billion yuan, accounting for 11.8%; by 2023, its added value has increased to 935 billion yuan, 3.3 times that of 2014, and its proportion has also increased to 15.7%, an increase of 3.8 percentage points compared to 2014. Compared with 2022, the industry's proportion also increased by 1.5 percentage points. This growth trend is mainly due to the extension of the cultural-related industrial chain and the enhancement of synergy.

8. Slowdown in Domestic Demand for Cultural Equipment Production

Compared with the momentum of cultural auxiliary production, cultural equipment production faces the dual challenges of slowing domestic demand and transformation and upgrading. From the data point of view, in 2014, the industry's added value was 86.9 billion yuan, accounting for only 3.6%. Although the proportion once rose to a high of 5.7% and 4.8% between 2017 and 2018, it has continued to fall since then. By 2023, although its added value has increased to 189.9 billion yuan, its proportion has dropped to 3.2%, the lowest in ten years.

9. Consumer Terminal Production in Distress for Consecutive Years

The situation in the cultural consumer terminal production field is equally grim. In recent years, with the rapid rise of digital cultural consumption, traditional cultural consumer terminals have gradually been replaced by immersive consumption scenarios. This change has been fully confirmed by the data: In 2014, the industry's added value accounted for 23.2%, but by 2023, this proportion has dropped to 9.9%, a sharp decrease of 13.3 percentage points, falling below the historical low. This shows that cultural consumer terminal production still has a large gap in adapting to market changes and meeting the new needs of consumers.

Core Conclusions from Comprehensive Analysis and Research

Through an in-depth analysis of the added value of China's cultural industry over the past 20 years, and a classified study of the nine sub-sectors of the "three major industries" and "two major fields" of the cultural industry, the following conclusions can be drawn: China's cultural industry has undergone significant growth and transformation in the past two decades, with its added value achieving leapfrog growth and its proportion of GDP steadily increasing. However, promoting high-quality development of the cultural industry still faces many challenges and opportunities.

(I) Still a Gap from the Goal of a Pillar Industry

Over the past 20 years, the scale of China's cultural industry has continued to expand, and the added value of the industry has increased year by year. However, judging from its proportion in GDP, there is still a gap from the goal of becoming a pillar industry of the national economy (more than 5%). Taking 2023 as an example, the added value of the cultural industry accounted for 4.59% of GDP that year, compared with 2.15% in 2004, an increase of 2.44% in 20 years, an average annual increase of about 0.122 percentage points (2.44/20=0.122). Excluding non-linear changes and external factors, at the current average annual growth rate, it is estimated that it will take another 3 to 5 years (0.41/0.122≈3.36 years) to reach the 5% target.

(II) Uneven Development within the "Three Major Industries"

From the statistical data of the past two decades, the rise of the cultural service industry is particularly significant. In 2023, its added value reached 4115.8 billion yuan, accounting for 69.2% of the added value of the cultural industry, an increase of 2.3 percentage points compared to last year, showing that the cultural industry is transforming from manufacturing to services. In contrast, the proportion of added value of the cultural manufacturing industry has dropped from 41.4% in 2014 to 20.5% in 2023, with an average annual decrease of 2.1 percentage points, reflecting the pressure of transformation and upgrading faced by traditional manufacturing. This uneven development trend reflects both the transformation and upgrading of the cultural industry and poses new challenges to the traditional cultural manufacturing industry.

(III) Insufficient Synergistic Effect within the Core Cultural Field

In 2023, the content creation and production industry continued to lead, achieving an added value of 1498.9 billion yuan, with its proportion remaining stable at 25.2% for two consecutive years, becoming the core pillar of the core cultural field. However, although other core areas such as news information services and creative design services have developed steadily, their overall aggregation force still needs to be strengthened. In particular, the cultural investment and operation industry and the cultural entertainment and leisure service industry are facing difficulties in rising due to their small market size and structural aging, respectively. This situation warns us that while strengthening the development of advantageous industries, we should also pay more attention to the efficient collaborative development of other industries within the industry.

(IV) Declining Market Competitiveness of Related Fields

In recent years, although China's cultural equipment production industry has made some progress in technological innovation and industrial upgrading, its added value and proportion have continued to decline. In 2023, the added value of cultural equipment production was only 189.9 billion yuan, and the industry's proportion was only 3.2%, falling to its lowest point in nearly ten years. This may be related to changes in market demand, accelerated technological updates, and intensified industry competition. In addition, the cultural consumer terminal production industry also faces growth pressure and urgently needs to expand market space and enhance competitiveness through innovation.

(V) Existing Statistical Classification System Needs Revision and Improvement

China's existing statistical classification system for culture and related industries basically reflects the development status of the cultural industry, but with the continuous emergence and integration of new formats, its limitations are becoming increasingly prominent. Some new forms of cultural industries may be overlooked due to unclear classification or unreasonable categorization, resulting in the added value statistics of the cultural industry failing to fully and accurately reflect the actual development situation, which restricts the formulation and implementation of relevant cultural industry policies. To ensure that the added value statistics of the cultural industry are more comprehensive, accurate, and reliable, it is recommended to revise and improve the statistical classification system in a timely manner and include emerging cultural formats and related integrated industries in the statistical scope.

Summary and Outlook

Looking back over the past two decades, driven by favorable factors such as policy support, market demand, and innovative integration, China's cultural industry has achieved significant growth in added value and undergone profound structural changes. However, we must also clearly recognize that the cultural industry currently still faces challenges such as insufficient market scale for emerging cultural formats, limited development space for traditional advantageous industries, and an increasingly urgent need to cultivate new growth points.

In the face of these challenges, it is recommended to continue increasing policy support to provide a more comprehensive policy environment for the development of the cultural industry; vigorously promote the deep integration of culture and technology, and enhance the innovation and competitiveness of the cultural industry through technological empowerment. In addition, efforts should continue to optimize and adjust the industrial structure, cultivate and strengthen cultural market entities, enhance synergistic cooperation between upstream and downstream links of the industrial chain, and accelerate the construction of a modern cultural industry ecosystem.

Looking ahead, with the deep implementation of the national cultural digitalization strategy, digital transformation will bring new development opportunities to the cultural industry, promoting more stable growth in the added value of the cultural industry. At the same time, the trend of globalization will also provide a broader market space for China's cultural industry, helping it achieve a higher level of international development. We have reason to believe that with the joint efforts of all parties, China's cultural industry will surely embrace a brighter future.

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