In 1981, Nanjing was listed by the state as one of the country's 15 economic center cities; in 2004, Nanjing was ranked sixth in mainland China by the Economic Center Positioning Index, second only to North, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Tianjin; in 2008, Nanjing was ranked fifth in China in terms of its ability to develop its headquarter economy, behind North, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. In 2014, the competitiveness assessment of China's regional center cities, Nanjing is second only to Shenzhen and Guangzhou (excluding Beijing and Shanghai). In 2015, the industrial structure of Nanjing is that the primary industry occupies 2.4%, the secondary industry occupies 40.3%, and the tertiary industry occupies 57.3%, and the proportion of the tertiary industry is ranked as the fifth in China, and the top four are North, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

In 2015, the gross regional product (GDP) of 972.077 billion yuan was realized, ranking 11th in the country, with an increase of 9.3%; the disposable income per capita of all residents was 40,455.17 yuan, an increase of 8.5% over the previous year. Among them, per capita disposable income of urban residents was 46,103.62 yuan, up 8.3%; per capita disposable income of rural residents was 19,482.91 yuan, up 10.3%. Nanjing is one of the important agricultural and commercial grain bases in China, and its main economic crops include rape, cotton, cocoons, hemp, tea, bamboo, fruit and medicinal herbs. It is also one of the important freshwater fishery bases in China due to the intertwined water network on both sides of the Yangtze River, dense lakes, vast waters and fertile water.

In 2015, the total output value of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery at current price was 41.527 billion yuan. The total grain output was 1,140,600 tons and the total oilseed output was 108,300 tons. The total meat output was 112,500 tons, poultry egg output was 72,000 tons, and milk output was 79,700 tons. The total output of aquatic products was 228,900 tons. New high-standard farmland area of 120,000 acres, 34,000 acres of economic forestry and fruit, facilities for aquaculture 20,000 acres. The area of "food basket" vegetable base reached 170,000 mu, the area of facility agriculture planting 732,000 mu, and the area of moderate-scale agricultural operation was 2.98 million mu. Nanjing is the cradle of China's modern industry, the birth of the Jinling Manufacturing Bureau in 1865 marked the beginning of Nanjing's modern industry. The establishment of a number of well-known enterprises, such as the British Hutchison Foreign Bank, the Southern Section of the Jinpu Railway Machine Factory (the predecessor of the Nanjing Puzhen Vehicle Factory), the Yongli Chemical Industry Company Sub-Factory (the predecessor of the Nanjing Chemical Industry Company), and the China Cement Company Limited, formed the embryonic form of Nanjing's modern industry. After 1949, Nanjing newly developed petrochemical, automobile manufacturing, iron and steel metallurgy, machinery and equipment and other pillar industries, in the era of planned economy is the total industrial output value of the country's top ten comprehensive industrial city, has given birth to China's first phosphorus fertilizer plant, the first home-made electronic tubes, the first nationally produced radios, the first wireless digital satellite communication station, the first radar, the first fully automatic washing machines and so on.

Nanjing is an important national comprehensive industrial production base, modern service centers and advanced manufacturing base, the national information technology and industrialization fusion test area, the second largest production capacity of electronic chemical industry, the third largest scale of vehicle manufacturing, the manufacturing industry ranked Nanjing in China's first city rankings by nine ministries and commissions listed as China's hard investment environment "forty excellent" city, China's urban comprehensive environment, "forty excellent" city, "forty excellent" city, China's urban comprehensive environment, and the "forty excellent" city. Nanjing is listed as one of the "40 Best Cities" in China's hard environment for investment by nine ministries and commissions, and the fifth city in China's "Top 50 Cities" in terms of comprehensive strength. Nanjing's well-known local enterprises include Panda Electronics, Yangzi Petrochemical, Jinling Petrochemical, Leapfrog Automobile, Jiangnan Optoelectronics, Suning Global, Yurun, Pacific Construction, Suning Appliances, Five Star Electrical Appliances, Hongtu Sanko, etc. The traditional four pillar industries are electronics, petrochemicals, automobiles, and iron and steel. In 2015, industrial enterprises above scale realized a total industrial output value of 1306.58 billion yuan. Nanjing is positioned by the National Development and Reform Commission as an "important regional financial and business center in China", and is the second only to Shanghai in the Yangtze River Delta region as a commercial and trade center and regional financial center, and the financial industry is an important strategic and pillar industry in Nanjing, with the total amount of financial resources accounting for a quarter of Jiangsu Province, and the financial center index ranking sixth in China, and the headquarters economy ranking seventh in China. The financial industry is an important strategic and pillar industry in Nanjing, with the total financial volume and financial resources accounting for a quarter of Jiangsu Province, the financial center index ranking sixth in China, and the headquarters economy ranking seventh. In 2013, the added value of Nanjing's financial industry amounted to RMB 84.620 billion, ranking first in the service industry and accounting for 10.56% of the GDP, making Nanjing one of the top five cities in China where the added value of the financial industry accounts for more than 10% of the GDP. In the 2015 "China Financial Center Index" assessment, Nanjing's financial talent environment ranked fourth in China, after Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

Nanjing is China's service outsourcing base and national software export innovation base, China's only pilot city for comprehensive reform of the national science and technology system, the software industry is the first leading industry and pillar industry that Nanjing is trying to cultivate, in 2013, the software and information service industry revenue of 262 billion yuan, of which 230.9 billion yuan of software business income, listed in Beijing, Shenzhen, Shanghai, ranking fourth in China, Jiangsu first, accounting for 7.5% of the national scale, accounting for 44.6% of Jiangsu.

The convention and exhibition industry is an important industry in Nanjing, and Nanjing's convention and exhibition economy is second only to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen among China's major cities. In 2014, 4,950 large and medium-sized exhibitions and conferences were held, and 71 large and extra-large exhibitions. In the "2013 World Ranking of Cities for Conference Industry Development" released by the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA), Nanjing became the city that hosted the most international conferences after Beijing and Shanghai. 2014, the Ministry of Commerce released the "China Conference and Exhibition Industry Development Report 2014", and Nanjing ranked first in China in the comprehensive index ranking of the domestic cities for the development of the exhibition industry. Comprehensive Index Ranking, Nanjing ranked fifth in China.

The cultural industry is also a pillar industry of Nanjing's national economy. In 2014, the cultural industry realized an added value of 51.5 billion yuan, accounting for 5.84% of GDP. The proportion of service industry in GDP in the main urban areas reached 82% on average, and the proportion of service industry in Gulou, Xuanwu and Qinhuai districts exceeded 90%.