Matchup file

China vs United States

126 shared metrics.

ChinaLeads in 46

vs126 shared

United StatesLeads in 80

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United States leads by 34 metrics. Use the same instinct in a quick real-data brawl.

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Country briefing

What matters for both sides

Short real-world notes so the comparison reads like more than a stat strip.

China

Quick notes before you compare the numbers.

Identity

Formal name: People's Republic of China.

CIA 2026

Curated stat

China's population began shrinking in 2022, its first annual decline in about six decades.

World Bank

United States

Quick notes before you compare the numbers.

Identity

Formal name: United States of America.

CIA 2026

Curated stat

The U.S. grew by 3.3 million people in 2024; net international migration drove 84% of that jump.

Census 2024

Analysis

United States leads in 80 of 126 shared metrics, while China leads in 46.

China's Political Corruption Index is 8.2x that of United States (0.55 vs 0.06).

China's Border Neighbors is 7.0x that of United States (16 vs 2.0).

China's Domestic Patents is 4.4x that of United States (1.43M vs 262.2K).

China's Air Pollution (PM2.5) is 3.5x that of United States (34.81 µg/m³ vs 7.8 µg/m³).

China's Shipping Traffic is 3.3x that of United States (268.99M vs 62.21M).

Key Comparisons

Political Corruption IndexChina leads

China

0.55

United States

0.06

Border NeighborsChina leads

China

United States

2.0

Domestic PatentsChina leads

China

1.43M

United States

262.2K

Air Pollution (PM2.5)China leads

China

34.81 µg/m³

United States

7.8 µg/m³

Shipping TrafficChina leads

China

268.99M

United States

62.21M

PopulationChina leads

United States

China

571

United States

16.2K

96% lower

McDonald's Outlets per Million People

United States

China

1.6 per 1M people

United States

40.59 per 1M people

96% lower

Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors - Open Database License (ODbL)

Health Spending Per Capita

United States

China

$672.45

United States

$12,434.43

95% lower

Firms Asked for Bribes

United States

China

0.14% of firms

United States

2.5% of firms

94% lower

Comparison of China and United States across 126 metrics
				Winner
Political Corruption Index	0.55	0.06	823% higher	China
Border Neighbors	16	2.0	700% higher	China
Domestic Patents	1.43M	262.2K	444% higher	China
Air Pollution (PM2.5)	34.81 µg/m³	7.8 µg/m³	345% higher	China
Shipping Traffic	268.99M	62.21M	332% higher	China
Population	1.41B	338.02M	316% higher	China
Population Density	150.26 /km²	36.82 /km²	308% higher	China
Coal Electricity Share	54.35%	16.31%	233% higher	China
Irrigated Land	690.1K km²	234.8K km²	194% higher	China
Total CO2 Emissions	13.1K Mt CO2e	4.6K Mt CO2e	183% higher	China
Electric Generating Capacity	2.95B kW	1.24B kW	139% higher	China
Merchant Fleet Size	8.3K	3.5K	135% higher	China
Electricity Generation	10.1K TWh	4.4K TWh	130% higher	China
UNESCO World Heritage Sites	60 sites	27 sites	122% higher	China
Nobel Laureates Born per Million People	0.01 per 1M people	0.72 per 1M people	99% lower	United States
Scientific Publications	898.9K	457.3K	97% higher	China
Airports	571	16.2K	96% lower	United States
McDonald's Outlets per Million PeopleSource: © OpenStreetMap contributors - Open Database License (ODbL)	1.6 per 1M people	40.59 per 1M people	96% lower	United States
Health Spending Per Capita	$672.45	$12,434.43	95% lower	United States
Firms Asked for Bribes	0.14% of firms	2.5% of firms	94% lower	United States
Freedom of Expression Index	0.04	0.73	94% lower	United States
EV Chargers per 100,000 PeopleSource: © OpenStreetMap contributors - Open Database License (ODbL)	0.22 per 100k people	3.8 per 100k people	94% lower	United States
Liberal Democracy Index	0.04	0.57	93% lower	United States
Inflation Rate	0.20%	2.9%	93% lower	United States
Homicide Rate	0.50 per 100k	5.8 per 100k	91% lower	United States
Electoral Democracy Index	0.07	0.73	90% lower	United States
FDI Inflows (% GDP)	0.10% of GDP	1.0% of GDP	90% lower	United States
Milk Consumption per Person	32.66 kg/person/yr	254.69 kg/person/yr	87% lower	United States
Land Border Length	22.5K km	12.0K km	87% higher	China
Hospital Beds (per 1,000)	5.0 per 1k	2.7 per 1k	85% higher	China
Firms Hit by Power Outages	3.7% of firms	25.17% of firms	85% lower	United States
GNI Per Capita	$13,660	$83,490	84% lower	United States
Armed Forces Personnel	2.54M	1.40M	82% higher	China
Obesity Rate	8.2%	42.87%	81% lower	United States
Seafood Consumption per Person	40.33 kg/person/yr	22.45 kg/person/yr	80% higher	China
Exports (% GDP)	20.02% of GDP	11.11% of GDP	80% higher	China
GDP Growth Rate	5.0%	2.8%	78% higher	China
Vehicles per 1,000 People	212.35 per 1k people	874.14 per 1k people	76% lower	United States
Time Zones Count	4.0 time zones	16 time zones	75% lower	United States
Nuclear Electricity Share	4.9%	18.5%	74% lower	United States
All-Time Olympic Medals	819 medals	3.1K medals	74% lower	United States
All-Time Olympic Gold Medals	330 gold medals	1.2K gold medals	73% lower	United States
Beer Consumption	1.1 L/person/yr	4.0 L/person/yr	71% lower	United States
Nurses & Midwives	3.5 per 1k	11.88 per 1k	70% lower	United States
Youth Unemployment Rate	15.79% of youth labor force	9.3% of youth labor force	69% higher	China
GDP Per Capita (PPP)	$27,104.87	$85,809.9	68% lower	United States
Health Spending (% GDP)	5.4% of GDP	16.5% of GDP	67% lower	United States
Researchers	1.8K per 1M	4.8K per 1M	62% lower	United States
Teen Birth Rate	5.2 per 1k	13.14 per 1k	60% lower	United States
Government Debt (% GDP)	47% of GDP	118.11% of GDP	60% lower	United States
Energy Use (Per Capita)	2.9K kg oil eq/person	6.4K kg oil eq/person	55% lower	United States
Alcohol Consumption	4.6 L/adult/yr	9.9 L/adult/yr	54% lower	United States
Foreign Patents	159.0K	329.2K	52% lower	United States
Meat Consumption per Person	60.6 kg/person/yr	124.11 kg/person/yr	51% lower	United States
Military Spending	1.7% of GDP	3.4% of GDP	50% lower	United States
Official Languages Count	1.0	2.0	50% lower	United States
Railway Length	150.0K km	293.6K km	49% lower	United States
Tobacco Use Prevalence	22.7% of adults	15.2% of adults	49% higher	China
Firms Making Informal Payments	0.29% of firms	0.56% of firms	49% lower	United States
Electricity Use (Per Capita)	6.5K kWh/person	12.6K kWh/person	48% lower	United States
Renewable Energy (%)	17.47%	12.05%	45% higher	China
Suicide Rate	8.9 per 100k	15.63 per 100k	43% lower	United States
Highest Elevation	8.8K m	6.2K m	43% higher	China
Big Mac Price	$3.66	$6.12	40% lower	United States
Capital Elevation	43 m	72 m	40% lower	United States
Renewable Energy (%)	15.2%	10.9%	39% higher	China
CO2 Per Capita	8.7 t/person/yr	14.2 t/person/yr	39% lower	United States
Electricity Carbon Intensity	525.34 gCO2/kWh	384.4 gCO2/kWh	37% higher	China
GDP (Nominal)	$18,743,803,170,827.2	$28,750,956,130,731.2	35% lower	United States
Air Passengers	619.22M	941.56M	34% lower	United States
Corruption Perceptions Index	43 pts	64 pts	33% lower	United States
Tourist Arrivals	30.40M	45.04M	32% lower	United States
Birth Rate	7.3 per 1k	10.75 per 1k	32% lower	United States
Spirits Consumption	2.5 L/person/yr	3.6 L/person/yr	31% lower	United States
Credit Card Ownership	46.03% of adults	66.7% of adults	31% lower	United States
Tax Revenue (% GDP)	7.6% of GDP	10.89% of GDP	30% lower	United States
Women's Political Empowerment	0.59	0.83	29% lower	United States
Solar Electricity Share	11.1%	8.6%	29% higher	China
Forest Coverage (%)	24.03%	33.87%	29% lower	United States
R&D Spending (% GDP)	2.6% of GDP	3.6% of GDP	29% lower	United States
Insufficient Physical Activity	23.84% of adults	33.74% of adults	29% lower	United States
Water Withdrawal	568.48 B m³	444.29 B m³	28% higher	China
Water Stress (%)	20.21%	15.77%	28% higher	China
Coastline Length	14.5K km	19.9K km	27% lower	United States
Forest Area	2.26M km²	3.10M km²	27% lower	United States
Railway Network	109.8K km	148.6K km	26% lower	United States
Fertility Rate	1.2 children/woman	1.6 children/woman	26% lower	United States
Education Spending (% GDP)	4.0% of GDP	5.4% of GDP	26% lower	United States
Average Weekly Work Hours	46.1 hrs/week	37.54 hrs/week	23% higher	China
Road Traffic Death Rate	17.4 per 100k	14.2 per 100k	23% higher	China
Protected Land (%)	15.6%	12.9%	21% higher	China
Agricultural Land (%)	55.43%	46.08%	20% higher	China
Imports (% GDP)	17.18% of GDP	14.27% of GDP	20% higher	China
Dependency Ratio	44.24% of working-age pop.	54.45% of working-age pop.	19% lower	United States
Broadband Access (%)	45 per 100 people	38 per 100 people	18% higher	China
Infant Mortality	4.5 per 1k births	5.5 per 1k births	18% lower	United States
Elderly Population (%)	14.67%	17.93%	18% lower	United States
Urban Population (%)	65.89%	80.12%	18% lower	United States
Mobile Subscriptions (%)	132 per 100 people	113 per 100 people	17% higher	China
Human Development Index	0.80	0.94	15% lower	United States
Doctors (per 1,000)	3.1 per 1k	3.7 per 1k	15% lower	United States
Inequality (Gini)	36	41.8	14% lower	United States
Hypertension Prevalence	27.3% of adults	31.8% of adults	14% lower	United States
Firms with Female Top Manager	19.6% of firms	22.23% of firms	12% lower	United States
Unemployment Rate	4.6%	4.1%	11% higher	China
Life Evaluation Score	6.1 pts	6.8 pts	11% lower	United States
Food Waste per Person	141.64 kg/person/yr	158.64 kg/person/yr	11% lower	United States
Death Rate	8.0 per 1k	8.8 per 1k	9% lower	United States
Women in Parliament (%)	26.54%	28.74%	8% lower	United States
Youth Population (%)	16.01%	17.32%	8% lower	United States
High-Tech Exports (%)	26.28%	24.32%	8% higher	China
Child Mortality	6.2 per 1k births	6.5 per 1k births	5% lower	United States
Digital Payments Used	88.72% of adults	92.97% of adults	5% lower	United States
Smoking Rate	23.4%	24.3%	4% lower	United States
Wind Electricity Share	10.73%	10.27%	4% higher	China
University Enrollment Rate	76.88%	79.36%	3% lower	United States
Median Age	39.1 years	38.0 years	3% higher	China
Land Area	9.39M km²	9.15M km²	3% higher	China
Sanitation Access (%)	97.27%	99.62%	2% lower	United States
Internet Users (%)	92%	93%	1% lower	United States
Life Expectancy	78.0 years	78.4 years	1% lower	United States
Minimum Paid Vacation Days	5.0 days/yr	0 days/yr	ranked higher	China
Electricity Access (%)	100%	100%	equal	China
Lowest Elevation	-154 m	-86 m	ranked lower	United States
Can Raise Emergency Money	95.1% of adults	94.99% of adults	equal	China
Current Account Balance (% of GDP)	3.7% of GDP	-3.6% of GDP	ranked higher	China

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China United States

Analysis

United States leads in 80 of 126 shared metrics, while China leads in 46.

China's Political Corruption Index is 8.2x that of United States (0.55 vs 0.06).

China's Border Neighbors is 7.0x that of United States (16 vs 2.0).

China's Domestic Patents is 4.4x that of United States (1.43M vs 262.2K).

China's Air Pollution (PM2.5) is 3.5x that of United States (34.81 µg/m³ vs 7.8 µg/m³).

China's Shipping Traffic is 3.3x that of United States (268.99M vs 62.21M).

Key Comparisons

Political Corruption IndexChina leads

China

0.55

United States

0.06

Border NeighborsChina leads

China

United States

2.0

Domestic PatentsChina leads

China

1.43M

United States

262.2K

Air Pollution (PM2.5)China leads

China

34.81 µg/m³

United States

7.8 µg/m³

Shipping TrafficChina leads

China

268.99M

United States

62.21M

PopulationChina leads

China

1.41B

United States

338.02M

Political Corruption Index

0.55

0.06

Border Neighbors

2.0

Domestic Patents

1.43M

262.2K

Air Pollution (PM2.5)

34.81 µg/m³

7.8 µg/m³

Shipping Traffic

268.99M

62.21M

Population

1.41B

338.02M

Population Density

150.26 /km²

36.82 /km²

Coal Electricity Share

54.35%

16.31%

Irrigated Land

690.1K km²

234.8K km²

Total CO2 Emissions

13.1K Mt CO2e

4.6K Mt CO2e

Electric Generating Capacity

2.95B kW

1.24B kW

Merchant Fleet Size

8.3K

3.5K

Electricity Generation

10.1K TWh

4.4K TWh

UNESCO World Heritage Sites

60 sites

27 sites

Nobel Laureates Born per Million People

0.01 per 1M people

0.72 per 1M people

Scientific Publications

898.9K

457.3K

Airports

571

16.2K

1.6 per 1M people

40.59 per 1M people

Health Spending Per Capita

$672.45

$12,434.43

Firms Asked for Bribes

0.14% of firms

2.5% of firms

China vs United States

Think you can spot the next winner?

What matters for both sides

China

United States

Analysis

Key Comparisons

All Metrics

Political Corruption Index

Border Neighbors

Domestic Patents

Air Pollution (PM2.5)

Shipping Traffic

Population

Population Density

Coal Electricity Share

Irrigated Land

Total CO2 Emissions

Electric Generating Capacity

Merchant Fleet Size

Electricity Generation

UNESCO World Heritage Sites

Nobel Laureates Born per Million People

Scientific Publications

Airports

McDonald's Outlets per Million People

Health Spending Per Capita

Firms Asked for Bribes

Freedom of Expression Index

EV Chargers per 100,000 People

Liberal Democracy Index

Inflation Rate

Homicide Rate

Electoral Democracy Index

FDI Inflows (% GDP)

Milk Consumption per Person

Land Border Length

Hospital Beds (per 1,000)

Firms Hit by Power Outages

GNI Per Capita

Armed Forces Personnel

Obesity Rate

Seafood Consumption per Person

Exports (% GDP)

GDP Growth Rate

Vehicles per 1,000 People

Time Zones Count

Nuclear Electricity Share

All-Time Olympic Medals

All-Time Olympic Gold Medals

Beer Consumption

Nurses & Midwives

Youth Unemployment Rate

GDP Per Capita (PPP)

Health Spending (% GDP)

Researchers

Teen Birth Rate

Government Debt (% GDP)

Energy Use (Per Capita)

Alcohol Consumption

Foreign Patents

Meat Consumption per Person

Military Spending

Official Languages Count

Railway Length

Tobacco Use Prevalence

Firms Making Informal Payments

Electricity Use (Per Capita)

Renewable Energy (%)

Suicide Rate

Highest Elevation

Big Mac Price

Capital Elevation

Renewable Energy (%)

CO2 Per Capita

Electricity Carbon Intensity

GDP (Nominal)

Air Passengers

Corruption Perceptions Index

Tourist Arrivals