Points Frog guide
United States vs China
The United States' GDP per person at PPP is 3.1 times China's, and a dollar goes 2.1 times as far in China.
Compare two countries
A UN member state, or a continent's average.
The page updates.
In US dollars, spent in each country.
$100 spent in the United States buys about what
$47.26
buys in China, at purchasing power parity
And $100 in China buys what $212 buys in the United States. Prices across the United States' economy average 212% of China's, so a dollar goes 2.1 times as far in China.
| Measure | United States | China |
|---|---|---|
| Economy | ||
| Population | 341.8 million | 1.41 billion |
| GDPUS dollars, market exchange rates | $30.8 trillion | $19.5 trillion |
| GDP per personUS dollars | $90,027 | $13,862 |
| GDP per person at PPPInternational dollars | $90,027 | $29,333 |
| Prices | ||
| Price levelUS prices = 100% | 100% | 47% |
| A US dollar goes as far as | $1.00 in the US | $2.12 in the US |
| Income | ||
| Median income or consumptionPer person, international dollars | $72.07 a day2024 survey · $26,306 a year · income | $13.45 a day2022 survey · $4,909 a year · consumption |
More figures: GDP at PPP, conversion factor and GNI
| Measure | United States | China |
|---|---|---|
| GDP at PPPInternational dollars | $30.8 trillion | $41.3 trillion |
| PPP conversion factorLocal currency per international dollar | 1.000U.S. dollar | 3.398Chinese yuan |
| GNI per person, Atlas methodUS dollars | $88,810 | $14,230 |
| GNI per person at PPPInternational dollars | $89,490 | $29,160 |
World Bank income groups: United States, high income; China, upper middle income.
- United States
- China
Year-by-year table
| Year | United States | China |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $76,931 | $25,067 |
| 2024 | $75,698 | $23,841 |
| 2023 | $74,352 | $22,687 |
| 2022 | $72,829 | $21,499 |
| 2021 | $71,441 | $20,843 |
| 2020 | $67,407 | $19,215 |
| 2019 | $69,121 | $18,821 |
| 2018 | $67,728 | $17,807 |
| 2017 | $66,164 | $16,758 |
| 2016 | $65,026 | $15,773 |
| 2015 | $64,368 | $14,857 |
| 2014 | $63,027 | $13,969 |
| 2013 | $61,967 | $13,081 |
| 2012 | $61,142 | $12,218 |
| 2011 | $60,253 | $11,405 |
| 2010 | $59,797 | $10,476 |
| 2009 | $58,722 | $9,519 |
| 2008 | $60,806 | $8,744 |
| 2007 | $61,314 | $8,014 |
| 2006 | $60,684 | $7,057 |
| 2005 | $59,612 | $6,298 |
| 2004 | $58,139 | $5,684 |
| 2003 | $56,505 | $5,192 |
| 2002 | $55,443 | $4,744 |
| 2001 | $55,024 | $4,372 |
| 2000 | $55,046 | $4,066 |
World Bank figures, updated October 8, 2026. An educational estimate, not financial advice.
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<script async src="https://www.pointsfrog.com/embed.js"></script>United States vs China: questions
Is the United States richer than China?
The United States' GDP per person at purchasing power parity was $90,027 in 2025, 3.1 times China's $29,333, so the United States is the richer of the two by this measure. At market exchange rates, GDP per person was $90,027 in the United States and $13,862 in China. The United States ranks 9th and China 69th of the 186 countries with figures.
How far does a dollar go in the United States compared with China?
Prices across the United States' economy averaged 212% of China's in 2025, so $100 spent in the United States buys about what $47.26 buys in China, and a dollar goes 2.1 times as far in China. The World Bank's PPP conversion factor was 1.000 (U.S. dollar) per international dollar in the United States and 3.398 (Chinese yuan) in China.
How big is the United States' economy compared with China's?
In 2025, the United States' GDP was $30.8 trillion at market exchange rates and $30.8 trillion at PPP; China's GDP was $19.5 trillion at market exchange rates and $41.3 trillion at PPP. At market rates the United States' economy is 1.58 times China's, and at PPP 75%. The United States has 341.8 million people and China 1.41 billion.
Do people earn more in the United States or China?
In 2025, gross national income per person by the World Bank's Atlas method was $88,810 in the United States and $14,230 in China; at PPP it was $89,490 and $29,160. The World Bank classes the United States as high income and China as upper middle income. In household surveys, the median person's income or consumption was $72.07 a day ($26,306 a year) in the United States, from a 2024 survey of income, and $13.45 a day ($4,909 a year) in China, from a 2022 survey of consumption, in 2021 international dollars. Income and consumption aren't measured the same way, so compare those two with care.
How has GDP per person changed since 2000?
After inflation, GDP per person at PPP grew 40% in the United States from 2000 to 2025, 1.3% a year, and grew 517% in China, 7.5% a year. The United States' was 14 times China's in 2000 and 3.1 times in 2025.
What is purchasing power parity (PPP)?
A rate that converts money between countries by what it buys rather than by the exchange rate. An international dollar buys in any country what a US dollar buys in the United States. The World Bank's International Comparison Program prices the same goods and services around the world to set these rates, so GDP at PPP compares how much economies actually produce, without exchange rate swings or price gaps.
What's the difference between GDP and GNI?
GDP is the value of everything produced inside a country. GNI, gross national income, adds income residents earn abroad and takes away income sent to foreign owners and workers. They differ most where foreign companies or workers take a large share, as in Ireland or Luxembourg, so GNI per person is closer to what a country's residents earn.
What is the World Bank Atlas method?
A way of converting GNI to US dollars that averages a country's exchange rate over three years, adjusted for inflation, so one year's currency swing doesn't jump it from one income group to another. The World Bank uses it to sort countries into low, lower-middle, upper-middle and high income each July.
Why is the median income missing or old for some countries?
Median income or consumption comes from household surveys, which most countries run every few years and some haven't run in a long time. Many lower-income countries measure what households spend rather than what they earn. This page shows the latest survey from the past 15 years in the World Bank's Poverty and Inequality Platform, with its year, and says when there isn't one.
Where do these figures come from?
From the World Bank's World Development Indicators, last updated October 8, 2026, with figures through 2025, and median income or consumption from its Poverty and Inequality Platform (September 22, 2026 release). Each figure is the latest the World Bank has for that country, from 2015 on; an older one is left out. The IMF publishes its own estimates, which usually differ by a few percent.
Is this comparison financial advice?
No. It's an educational comparison of official statistics. A country's average price level covers its whole economy, so your own costs in either place depend on where you live and what you buy.
How does the comparison work?
- GDP and GNI in US dollars use market exchange rates; at PPP they use the World Bank's purchasing power parities, in international dollars.
- The price level is a country's GDP at market rates divided by its GDP at PPP: its prices against US prices, across the whole economy, not just what households buy. What $100 buys elsewhere is $100 times the ratio of the two price levels.
- GNI per person uses the Atlas method, the measure behind the World Bank's income groups.
- The chart is GDP per person at PPP in constant 2021 international dollars, so it shows growth after inflation.
- Figures: World Development Indicators, updated October 8, 2026; median income or consumption: Poverty and Inequality Platform, September 22, 2026 release. Series: GDP, GDP at PPP, GDP per person at PPP, PPP conversion factor, GNI per person (Atlas), GNI per person at PPP.