How nearshoring reshapes global deindustrialization

Abstract

Although recent decades were marked by within-country deindustrialization, this was not observed on the global level, as jobs moved from smaller, highly productive countries to large, less productive ones. We provide new empirical evidence that this trend reversed in the mid-2010s. We compiled annual employment data for 64 industries in 45 economies for 2010–2020 that are compatible with the multi-regional input–output tables provided by Eurostat in the FIGARO 2022 database. The data show that global employment generated by vertically integrated manufacturing activities has started to decline. The regionalization of global value chains was identified as the main driver that has reversed this trend, as the level of offshoring from most regions has declined.