China accounted for over half of global shipbuilding output in 2025 and captured the majority of new orders and backlogs, with early-2026 data pointing to further gains in output and global market share.
China’s shipbuilding sector has moved decisively ahead of the rest of the world, combining scale, order dominance and accelerating output into a single, reinforcing advantage. In 2025, China delivered 53.7 million DWT, around 56% of global output, while capturing roughly two-thirds of new orders and holding orders, underscoring how deeply global shipbuilding demand is now anchored in Chinese yards.
Even as global orders declined sharply in 2025, early-2026 data shows a rapid rebound, with China securing the overwhelming majority of new contracts across key vessel segments. Production is also accelerating, with over 11 million DWT delivered in just the first two months of 2026 (+38% YoY), pointing to another strong year ahead. The result is a structurally concentrated industry in which China not only builds more ships than any other country, but increasingly defines the pace, composition and direction of global maritime capacity.
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