In open economies, government support in the form of subsidies to economic activities has the potential to distort international markets. As a result, companies are no longer competing on a level playing field. This can result in less productive firms winning global market share at the expense of more innovative and efficient ones with implications over time for innovation, fair competition, and support for global trade. For these reasons, the use of subsidies has been disciplined in the multilateral trading system.
Reliable data on industrial subsidies is necessary to monitor what governments are doing worldwide and analyse how subsidies are shaping global markets. This can help countries build a shared understanding of the challenge, paving the way for co-operative efforts to find solutions.
Building on its longstanding work measuring subsidies across agriculture (OECD, 2025[1]), fisheries (OECD, 2023[2]), and fossil fuels (OECD, 2025[3]), the OECD has spent nearly a decade investing in measuring industrial subsidies. For the first time, the OECD is now releasing a public version of the OECD MAGIC (Manufacturing Groups and Industrial Corporations) database. The database includes subsidy estimates and financial information for 525 of the largest manufacturing groups globally over the period 2005‑24 across 15 key industrial sectors, which together make up the bulk of global manufacturing. The public version of the database provides downloadable data on the value of subsidies across years, sectors, subsidy instruments, and geographical groupings.
The OECD MAGIC database takes a unique approach; it is not based on the subsidies governments disclose, but on the amounts that firms actually receive. This firm-level approach allows MAGIC to measure subsidies provided globally – even where governments are not transparent about the subsidies they provide – and to identify subsidies given at the subnational (city, county, state) level. Looking at what firms receive makes it possible to identify new forms of support, including subsidies provided in the form of below-market finance (cheap loans offered by state-owned banks), and to shed new light on the role of state enterprises as both important recipients and providers of subsidies. Finally, the firm-level approach demonstrates how subsidies are associated with companies’ sales revenue, providing direct evidence of their potential to confer a competitive advantage on recipients (detailed information on the methodology behind MAGIC available here).
This report accompanies the public release of the OECD MAGIC database and highlights the key findings based on the latest (2024) data. It outlines key trends across subsidy types, sectors, and regions and presents the results of OECD analysis on what these subsides mean for global markets. Snapshots of the situation in the 15 sectors covered by MAGIC are provided in Annex A. Future editions of this report will provide annual updates based on MAGIC data. Separate deep dives into individual sectors will also continue to be produced periodically. The results presented do not prejudge the outcome of any assessments that may be undertaken by investigating authorities or under the World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement procedures on subsidies and countervailing measures.