MAGIC Database of Industrial Subsidies

Subsidies across 15 key industrial sectors have reached the highest level since the global financial crisis of 2008-2009. As a percentage of firms’ sales revenue, industrial subsidies amounted to 1.3% in 2024, which was the second highest level on record after the previous peak. The 2009 peak, however, coincided with a severe global recession, when a 15% year‑over‑year collapse in sales mechanically inflated the subsidy‑to‑revenue ratio. This was not the case in 2023-24, which indicates the recent increase in industrial subsidies is more structural. 

In nominal terms, subsidies across the 15 industrial sectors covered by the OECD MAGIC database totalled USD 108 billion in 2024, or USD 94 billion at constant 2015 prices. Both figures represent the second‑highest levels observed to-date, following the record high seen in 2023. All three subsidy instruments covered by the OECD MAGIC database matter, with government grants, corporate income tax concessions, and below-market-borrowings having each contributed a sizable amount to the total industrial subsidies measured over the period 2005-2024. 

Between 2005 and 2024, Chinese firms received on average three to eight times more government support than firms based in the OECD, a conservative estimate. These subsidies were also considerably higher than the support received by firms based in non-OECD economies such as Brazil, India, and Indonesia. 

In almost all regions industrial subsidies were higher in 2024 than average over the period covered by the database (2005-2024). That said, the difference between subsidies received by Chinese firms and firms based elsewhere remained significant in 2024. 

Between 2005 and 2024, firms producing solar photovoltaic panels, semiconductors, aluminium, steel, and shipbuilding were – as a percentage of firms’ sales revenue – the top five recipients of subsidies across the 15 sectors covered in the OECD MAGIC database.