Recently, in the fourth session of the United Nations conference on environment, the International Chemical Industry Association (ICCA) released a report about chemical industry's contribution to the global economy. In 2017, the chemical industry contributed about $5.7 trillion for world GDP through the direct, indirect and induced effects, equivalent to 7% of world GDP, supporting 120 million jobs around the world.

The ICCA commissioned Oxford economics conducted a detailed assessment of the contribution of the chemical industry to the global economy. The report said that for every dollar the chemical industry produces, another $4.20 is produced in other parts of the global economy. Chemical companies and suppliers spent $3 trillion on goods and services to produce their products in 2017. The whole supply-chain spending is estimated to contribute $2.6 trillion to global GDP, supporting 60 million employment positions.

The biggest contributor to GDP and employment is the Asia-Pacific chemical industry, which accounts for 45% of the annual industrial economy, supporting 69% of employment position. European chemical industry is the next biggest contributor, contributing $1.3 trillion to GDP and supporting 19 million employment position. Next is North America which contributes $866 billion to GDP and supports 6 employment position.

The global chemical industry spent about $51 billion on research and development in 2017, supporting 1.7 million jobs and $92 billion in economic activity. China invested $14.6 billion in chemical research and development, making it the world's largest spender on chemical research and development. The US and Japan invested $12.1 billion and $6.9 billion respectively. Germany spent $4.6 billion on chemical research and development. The following were South Korea at $2.2 billion, France at $2.1 billion, India at $1.8 billion and Britain at $1.2 billion.