The table above shows manufacturing GDP per capita for the most populated countries in the world from 1990 to 2014. The graph on the left shows the performances for 10 selected countries over this period

Germany and Japan were the leading countries for manufacturing GDP per capita in 1992 among the major nations and they are still today with Germany having an edge over Japan. Germany is known for it's car industry, being the home of companies such as Volkswagen and BMW. Japan is also known for it's car industry with Toyota being it's biggest car manufacturer. Japan is also known for it's electronics industry with Sony being it's most famous and successful electronics company. Both have had solid increases from 1998 to 2014.

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The USA had the biggest manufacturing industry in the 90s, though not in per capita terms. The leading manufacturing nation of 20th century, the US particularly widened the gap with Europe as a result of WW2. Despite a decline in the share of the workforce in manufacturing, the US manufacturing industry has not declined in total or per capita output. However, it has since been surpassed by China in overall manufacturing GDP and fell even further behind Germany and Japan in per capita terms from 1998 to the present time. The Italian manufacturing industry seen quite a sharp decline between 2006 and 2014.

China has the largest overall manufacturing industry, emerging as the centre of world manufacturing during the 21st century. China has seen the biggest percentage increase and by 2014. However it remains well below Germany and Japan in per capita terms.