Vehicle exports from China by year

Facts checked Newest figure published 22 January 2026

The series

Figures in vehicles, one row per year.
Year vehicles Relative size Note
2010 544,900 CAAM series (passenger 283,000, commercial 261,900), via Wikipedia's table citing CAAM and MarkLines.
2011 814,000 CAAM series (passenger 476,100, commercial 338,200), same table.
2012 1,056,100 CAAM series (passenger 661,200, commercial 394,900); the first year above one million.
2013 977,300 CAAM, down 7.46%, as reported by Xinhua from CAAM's release of 9 January 2014 (passenger 596,300, commercial 381,000).
2014 910,400 CAAM series (passenger 533,000, commercial 377,300).
2016 708,000 CAAM series (passenger 477,000, commercial 231,000). Consistent with CAAM's January 2018 statement that 2017 was the first rise after four consecutive annual declines.
2017 891,000 CAAM, up 25.8%: passenger cars 639,000 (up 34.0%), commercial vehicles 252,000 (down 8.9%). CAAM described this as the first increase after four successive years of decline.
2018 1,041,000 CAAM, up 16.8%: passenger cars 758,000, commercial vehicles 283,000.
2019 1,024,000 CAAM series (passenger 725,000, commercial 299,000), via Wikipedia's table; consistent with CAAM's December 2020 release, which put 2020 exports 2.9% below 2019.
2020 995,000 CAAM, down 2.9%: passenger cars 760,000, commercial vehicles 235,000.
2021 2,015,000 CAAM, up 101.1%: passenger cars 1,614,000, commercial vehicles 402,000; of the total, 310,000 were new energy vehicles.
2022 3,111,000 CAAM, up 54.4%: passenger cars 2,529,000, commercial vehicles 582,000; 679,000 were new energy vehicles. China passed Germany as the world's second-largest vehicle exporter.
2023 4,910,000 CAAM, up 57.8%: passenger cars 4,140,000, commercial vehicles 770,000; 1,203,000 were new energy vehicles. This was the year China overtook Japan to become the world's largest vehicle exporter. China Customs counted 5,221,000 vehicles exported in 2023, up 57.2%, on its wider definition.
2024 5,859,000 CAAM, up 19.3%: passenger cars 4,955,000 (up 19.7%), commercial vehicles 904,000 (up 17.5%); 1,284,000 were new energy vehicles. China Customs counted 6,407,000, up 22.7%.
2025 7,098,000 CAAM, up 21.1%; 2,615,000 were new energy vehicles, roughly double 2024. China Customs counted 7,331,000 in January–November 2025, up 25.7%; a full-year customs figure is not in the CAAM release used here.

Reading these figures

Two published series for the same year often disagree, and the reason is almost always the definition rather than an error: wholesale shipments are not retail registrations, passenger cars are not all vehicles, and what counts as a new-energy vehicle differs between publishers. The definition above is the one that applies to every number on this page.

Related

Sources for Vehicle exports from China by year

  1. China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), 2025年12月汽车工业产销情况简析 (Brief analysis of vehicle production and sales, December 2025). Read . Published 2026-01-22. 2025 exports 7.098 million, up 21.1%.
  2. China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), 产业运行 | 2025年12月汽车工业产销情况 (December 2025 industry operation slide deck). Read . Published 2026-01-14. Slide 30 gives 2025 NEV exports of 2.615 million. Slide 37, headed 'customs import and export data' and sourced to the General Administration of Customs, gives exports of 5.221 million in 2023, 6.407 million in 2024 and 7.331 million in January–November 2025.
  3. China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), 2024年12月信息发布会 (December 2024 information conference slide deck). Read . Published 2025-01-13. 2024 exports 5.859 million, up 19.3% (passenger 4.955 million, commercial 0.904 million); NEV exports 1.284 million; the same slide restates 2023 exports as 4.91 million, up 57.9%.
  4. China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), Automobile Exports in December 2023. Read . Published 2024-01-12. Jan–Dec 2023 total 491.0, of which NEVs 120.3, passenger cars 414.0, commercial vehicles 77.0 (unit: 10,000 vehicles).
  5. China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), Automobile Exports in December 2022. Read . Published 2023-01-12. Jan–Dec 2022 total 311.1, of which NEVs 67.9 (unit: 10,000 vehicles).
  6. China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), Automobile Exports in December 2021. Read . Published 2022-01-12. Jan–Dec 2021 total 201.5, of which NEVs 31.0 (unit: 10,000 vehicles).
  7. China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), Automobile Exports in December 2020. Read . Published 2021-01-14. Jan–Dec 2020 total 99.5, down 2.9% (unit: 10,000 vehicles).
  8. China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), The auto export enjoyed rapid growth yearly (2017). Read . Published 2018-01-23. 2017 exports 891,000, up 25.8%, described as the first growth after four successive years of decline.
  9. China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), The auto export enjoyed rapid growth yearly (2018). Read . CAAM's annual review of 2018: exports 1,041,000, up 16.8%. Page carries a 2019-06-05 migration stamp.
  10. Wikipedia, Automotive industry in China — Export volume of Chinese automobile industry. Read . Finding aid for CAAM's export series 2010–2016 and 2019, cited there to caam.org.cn and MarkLines. The same table's 2023 entry (5,220,000) is a customs-basis figure and is not used here; CAAM's own 2023 release gives 4,910,000, and its 2015 entry (699,400) is inconsistent with CAAM's statement that 2016 was the fourth consecutive year of decline, so 2015 is omitted from this series. It is also the source used here for the statement that China overtook Japan as the world's largest vehicle exporter in 2023.
  11. Xinhua, via China Internet Information Center (china.org.cn), China auto sales see double-digit growth. Read . Published 2014-01-10. CAAM's 2013 exports of 977,300, down 7.46%.