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MacroSnaps14 October 2026
No. 95

China now makes most of the world's solar panels, batteries and electric cars.

Solar panels
80%
Batteries
75%
Electric cars
62%
Steel
54%
Ships
50%

China's share of everything the world makes in each industry, percent.

Why this is happening
  • China's government backed these industries for decades with cheap loans and subsidies, and its factories are so big that no one else can match their prices.
  • Chinese families spend a small share of what the country earns, so its factories make far more than China buys, and the rest is sold abroad.
  • Meanwhile Western companies spent thirty years moving their factories to China and other cheaper countries.
The take

When one country makes most of the things the world runs on, it can use that as a weapon, for example by refusing to sell them. That is why tariffs (taxes on imports), export bans and "friend-shoring", moving supply chains to allies rather than rivals like China, are suddenly everywhere.

Source: IEA, industry estimates (2026)
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The underlying data

MacroSnaps drew this chart. The numbers in it are published by IEA, industry estimates (2026). Their terms, not ours, govern the underlying data.