Take a drive out past Phnom Penh or head down toward Kampong Speu, and you will notice the landscape changing by the day. New factories are popping up left and right. According to figures from the industry sector cited in local media, the country had 3,357 registered large-scale factories up and running across all 25 capital and provinces as of July 2026.
Phnom Penh sits comfortably in the lead with 912 factories, followed closely by Kampong Speu in second place with 677. Kandal and Svay Rieng take the third and fourth spots. Venture out to more remote corners like Pailin or Mondulkiri, however, and you will barely see any heavy manufacturing—just a couple of large plants still operating.
Outside the gates of these workshops, you can see waves of motorbikes shifting in and out every day as the shifts change. All told, these large factories employ over 1.35 million workers, and women make up the vast majority at more than 75 percent, or roughly 950,000 workers. In the first half of this year, total production value hit nearly $9.8 billion, with the bulk of the goods heading out through the ports, alongside a good share staying for the local market.
