Since 2023, driven by the effective implementation of comprehensive economic policies to stabilize the economy, China’s economy has been recovering at an accelerated pace, and market demand has gradually rebounded. Faced with complex and changing international environment and factors such as weak market demand, the overall lighting industry in China is currently in a period of pressure and repair. While exports remain relatively stable, the pressure has increased. The domestic lighting market lacks endogenous driving force, and emerging sub-markets such as smart lighting, agricultural lighting, and health lighting have yet to take shape. According to estimates, the sales revenue of the lighting industry in China in the first half of 2023 was approximately 301.3 billion RMB, a year-on-year decrease of about 7%. From January to June, the lighting industry experienced a slow recovery, and the comprehensive business index of the industry showed some improvement, with a 12-point increase from February to June. It is worth noting that although the comprehensive business index of the industry has grown, it is still within the range of gradual cooling.
Economic performance in the first half of the year:
1. Improved profitability of large and medium-sized enterprises: Faced with pressure, the lighting industry’s major enterprises have actively improved profitability through technological innovation, adjustment of production and operational strategies, increased production efficiency, and reduced production costs. It is understood that in 2023, China’s major enterprises have increased their production capacity, with the production volume of electric light sources exceeding 20 billion units, a year-on-year increase of over 30%. Traditional production provinces such as Guangdong and Fujian have seen production increases ranging from 40% to 130%. The production volume of lamps and lighting devices exceeded 3 billion sets, with a year-on-year growth of over 10%. Guangdong province ranked first in production volume, with a nearly 30% year-on-year increase.
According to incomplete statistics, the number of major lighting fixture enterprises has increased, with over 3,500 enterprises in the first half of the year, a year-on-year increase of about 4%. Profits of major enterprises have significantly improved, with a year-on-year increase of approximately 12%, which is 28 percentage points higher than the national scale industrial enterprises. Business operations have gradually improved, with a year-on-year decrease of over 5% in losses and a year-on-year decrease of over 3% in operating costs. According to the disclosed annual reports of listed companies, the net profits of some leading enterprises have increased, with growth rates ranging from 5% to 40%.
2. Weak domestic market demand: In the first half of 2023, the overall performance of China’s domestic lighting market was weak, with insufficient consumer demand. It is estimated that China’s domestic sales in the lighting industry amounted to approximately 108.5 billion RMB from January to June 2023, a year-on-year decrease of 17%, which is 25 percentage points lower than the total retail sales of consumer goods. The reasons for this weakness include the downturn in closely related industries such as real estate, high inventory levels of lighting products, and insufficient demand for large-scale lighting projects. According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, in the first half of this year, China’s real estate development investment amounted to 5.8 trillion RMB, a year-on-year decrease of approximately 8%; the sales area of commercial residential buildings was about 600 million square meters, a year-on-year decrease of approximately 5%; major lighting enterprises maintained a large-scale inventory similar to the same period last year.
3. Export pressure and decline: In the first half of 2023, due to factors such as declining external demand and high inventory levels, China’s lighting industry faced pressure and a decline in overall exports. However, thanks to the advantages of the industry chain, the sector still maintained a relatively high export volume.
3.1Total industry exports decreased by 4%: According to statistics from the General Administration of Customs, from January to June 2023, China’s total lighting product exports amounted to approximately 27.7 billion USD, a year-on-year decrease of approximately 4%.
Month by month analysis shows that in the first half of 2023, overall exports exhibited a reverse V-shaped trend. From January to February, the industry’s exports continued the downward trend of the previous year, with a year-on-year decrease of 19%, reaching a new low since March 2020. From March to April, after the Chinese New Year, exports rebounded strongly as production and work resumed, with a year-on-year increase of 18%. However, from May to June, the industry’s exports were weak, with a year-on-year decrease of 9%.
3.2In terms of specific products, both the export volume and value of major electric light sources and lamps have declined, along with a decrease in export prices. On the other hand, the export value of other non-major lighting products has increased, with a slight decrease in export volume, while the export prices remained relatively stable.
From January to June 2023, the export value of electric light sources and related products was about $3.5 billion, a decrease of 15% compared to the same period last year. This accounted for approximately 13% of the total export value of lighting products, a decrease of 2 percentage points compared to the previous year. The export volume of electric light sources and related products was approximately 8.7 billion units, an 18% decrease compared to the previous year. Among them, the export of LED tubes and bulbs reached 3.2 billion units, an increase of about 6% year-on-year. However, the export volume of general lighting electric light sources such as incandescent lamps, fluorescent lamps, and HID lamps continued to decline.
In terms of export prices, some specific categories of lighting products such as heat radiation light source products and gas discharge light source products experienced continuous price growth, while the export prices of other major lighting products continued to decline, with a decrease of 10% to 50% compared to the previous year.
In the first half of 2023, the export value of lamps and related products was $20.7 billion, a 4% decrease compared to the same period last year. This accounted for approximately 74% of the total export value of lighting products, a decrease of 0.3 percentage points compared to the previous year. The export value of other non-major lighting products was approximately $3.5 billion, accounting for approximately 13% of the total export value of lighting products, an increase of about 1 percentage point compared to the previous year. Among the major lamp products, some categories such as fixed lamps and Christmas lights showed growth, while other products experienced a decline in export volume.
In terms of export markets, the demand for Chinese-made lighting products in the European and American markets continued to decline in the first half of 2023, with exports to Europe and America reaching approximately $13.6 billion, a decrease of about 15% compared to the same period last year. On the
In terms of individual export destinations, the top ten markets for China’s lighting product exports in the first half of the year were the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, Malaysia, India, Vietnam, the Netherlands, Japan, Mexico, and Singapore. These markets accounted for approximately 50% of China’s lighting exports, with a year-on-year decrease of 9%. Among the top ten markets, developed countries such as the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Japan continued to decline, with a year-on-year decrease of 17%. On the other hand, emerging markets such as Malaysia, India, Vietnam, Mexico, and Singapore maintained high-speed growth, with a year-on-year increase of 19 percentage points.
