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What will be the value, in dollars, of all Chinese imports of semiconductor chips in 2022?

Multiple choice Opened 20 April 2021 Closed 1 January 2023 Resolved 28 August 2023 620 forecasts 70 forecasters

Related questions. This question is part of a cluster that includes U.S. exports of semiconductor chips to China, U.S. exports of semiconductor manufacturing equipment to China, and Chinese imports of semiconductor manufacturing equipment. A version of this question was previously issued for 2021. You can view those forecasts here. That question has not yet resolved. The mean crowd forecast for that question -- made before 2020 data was available -- is $325 billion.

Context.  The semiconductor manufacturing process has many components manufactured through complicated, highly globalized supply chains. China's ability to produce advanced semiconductor chips is particularly dependent on U.S., Japanese, and Dutch imports of advanced semiconductor manufacturing equipment (SME) -- the tools used by chip factories to make chips. Although China is building up its chip manufacturing capacity using imported SME, it is still reliant on imports for most of the semiconductor chips it consumes. China is especially reliant on the United States, Taiwan, and South Korea for imports of the most advanced semiconductor chips. Therefore, export controls on chips could reduce China's access to them. If China cannot import SME, it will remain dependent on imports for chips. This question focuses on semiconductor chips.

Data and resolution details. This question resolves based on United Nations Comtrade data. We classified imports as semiconductor chips if they have Harmonized System (HS) code 8542. 

The data underlying the graph is here.

This question is a metric for the following scenario:

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Outcome

Answer Final crowd forecast Resolution
Less than $320 billion 1% Did not happen
More than $320 billion but less than or equal to $350 billion 3% Did not happen
Between $350 billion and $380 billion, inclusive 20% Did not happen
Between $380 billion and $410 billion, inclusive 40% Did not happen
More than $410 billion 36% Happened

“Final crowd forecast” is the last aggregate crowd probability computed before the question closed – the right-hand end of the chart below, which this table is the accessible equivalent of.

Crowd forecast over time

0% 25% 50% 75% 100% Apr 2021 Apr 2022 Dec 2022 40% 36% 20% 3% 1%
More than $410 billion Between $380 billion and $410 billion, inclusive Between $350 billion and $380 billion, inclusive More than $320 billion but less than or equal to $350 billion Less than $320 billion
The aggregate crowd probability, one point per day, from RFI's primary aggregation method. Gaps are days with no computed aggregate. Individual forecasts are not shown.