With the advent of the era of big data, both the quantity and quality of economic activity related data have been enormously enriched and improved. By analyzing these large-scale data from socio-economic systems, we have the opportunity to quantify the status of economic development instantaneously and accurately with nearly no cost. In this paper, focusing on how big data reveal the status of economic development, we briefly summary the applications of different types of big data on quantifying macro-economic structures and micro-social status. Further, we discuss and provide some promising ways to apply big data to improve regional economic development strategies and upgrade macro industrial structures.