This paper examines industrialization trends in developing countries. It uses the GGDC/UNU-WIDER Economic Transformation Database, which provides time series of employment and real and nominal value added annually by 12 sectors in 51 countries for the period 1990–2018. Until the early 2000s de-industrialization was widespread, but then the trend reversed. Regressions that control for income and demographic trends suggest significant employment industrialization in developing Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. We explore the nature of this manufacturing renaissance.

This note introduces the GGDC/UNU-WIDER Economic Transformation Database (ETD), which provides time series of employment and real and nominal value added by 12 sectors in 51 countries for the period 1990–2018. The ETD includes 20 Asian, 9 Latin American, 4 Middle-East and North African, and 18 sub-Saharan African countries at varying levels of economic development. The ETD is constructed on the basis of an in-depth investigation of the availability and usability of statistical sources on a country-by-country basis. The ETD provides researchers with data to analyse the variety and determinants of structural transformation and supports policies aimed at sustained growth and poverty reduction.

This paper examines industrialization in developing countries. It introduces the GGDC/UNU-WIDER Economic Transformation Database, which provides consistent annual data of employment, real and nominal value added by 12 sectors in 51 economies for the period 1990–2018. Regressions that control for income and population indicate a manufacturing renaissance in several middle-income countries since the 2000s. We observe industrialization in many low-income Asian and sub-Saharan African countries. The industrial naissance in sub-Saharan Africa appears characterized by unregistered firms that expand employment.

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