Introduction to this section

The two chapters of this section present a comparative assessment of patterns and trends in the manufacturing industry. The geographic scope of the assessment is global, its range comprehensive – covering all branches of the manufacturing sector as well as both domestic and international developments – and its basis quantitative, formed by a set of empirical measures, the ‘indicators’. Within this framework, the notion of ‘industrial performance’ is used to cover and connect the various parts of the review. Industrial performance is seen from two angles. From one of them, it is associated with the performance of a whole economy: developments in and around industry are compared and pictured as closely linked with the aggregate economy, in particular with its level of overall development. From the other, performance is taken to be that of the industrial sector itself, its levels of domestic and international activity and its changing structure. This duality of performance informs the measurement, analysis and interpretation of developments in world industry presented in this section.

Sustainable Development Goals:

Decent Work and Economic Growth