A press conference on Hunan's economic and social development in 2025 was held on January 26, 2026. According to the unified calculation of regional gross domestic product (GDP), Hunan's economy maintained overall stability, made progress despite pressures, and saw  improvements in both quality and efficiency in 2025. The provincial annual GDP reached 5.530865 trillion CNY, securing a firm position among the top ten nationwide with a year-on-year growth of 4.8%.

Focusing on the "4×4" modern industrial system, 13 key industrial chains have formed cohesive clusters, providing robust industrial support. The added value of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, and fishery increased 4.4% year on year, accelerating by one percentage point compared to the previous year. Hunan's grain output reached 31.05 million tonnes (equivalent to 62.09 billion jin), an increase of 265,000 tonnes (530 million jin) over the previous year. The added value of industrial enterprises above designated size grew 6.2%, with manufacturing sector contributing 26.4% to the regional GDP. The advanced manufacturing industry accounted for 51.7% of the total added value in the industrial sector above designated size.

The "trade-in" policy has energized the market, "debut economy" and "smart consumption" scenarios have been revitalized, and the "Xiangchao" IP has been propelled beyond its niche to stir up the consumer market. The province's total retail sales of consumer goods rose 3.6% year on year to 2.120459 trillion CNY. Retail sales of goods related to the "trade-in" initiative surged 26.4%, with furniture sales up 24.9%, home appliances sales climbing 23.1%, and new energy vehicle sales growing 9%.

The mass application and demonstration of new technologies, products, and scenarios have yielded remarkable results, boosting the new drivers of economic momentum. High-quality products with advanced technology and promising market prospects continue to emerge. The provincial high-tech manufacturing output value above designated size grew 11.2% year on year, with aerospace equipment manufacturing and electronic and communication equipment manufacturing up 17.2% and 15.8%, respectively. New energy vehicle production exceeded one million, marking a 34.9% increase.

The entire development process has been guided by the principle of achieving effective qualitative improvement alongside reasonable quantitative growth, resulting in sustained improvement in both quality and efficiency of economic operations. Hunan's local general public budget revenue increased 1.7% to 350.763 billion CNY. By the end of 2025, there were 7.9875 million active business entities across Hunan, up 4.5%. There were 62,300 enterprises on the statistical database for large-scale enterprises, a 3.1% increase.

Expenditures on people's livelihood accounted for over 72% of general public budget expenditures, with social security and employment expenditures increasing 5%, health expenditures rising 4.5%, and education expenditures growing 3.8%. A total of 826,800 new jobs were provided in urban areas, with 452,700 unemployed individuals and 91,300 individuals facing employment difficulties got re-employed, all exceeding the annual targets.

This article is from the Hunan Provincial Government www.enghunan.gov.cn.

Translator: Yu Jiangjiang

Chinese source: hunan.gov.cn