At the beginning of 2023, the U.S.'s real GDP stood at around $20 trillion and China's at around $16 trillion—leaving a gap of $4 trillion.
That's $5.9 trillion, or nearly 28 percent, more than the US GDP of $21.4 trillion in 2019. So, to answer the original question, China is the world's largest economy, followed by the United States ... if you compare GDPs based on PPP.
It now thinks China's economy will not overtake America's until 2035 and at its high point will be only 14% bigger (see chart). China's peak looks similar in an influential forecast from last year by Roland Rajah and Alyssa Leng of the Lowy Institute, an Australian think-tank. Others see an even lower summit.
The 6.3% growth in China's gross domestic product from April to June outpaced a 4.5% expansion in the previous quarter. The still robust growth is largely due to the economy growing just 0.4% a year earlier in April-June of 2022 amid strict lockdowns in Shanghai and other cities during COVID-19 outbreaks.
With a GDP of 25.46 trillion dollars, the USA is by far the world's largest economy in this ranking for 2022. It is followed by China in second place with a GDP of 17.96 trillion dollars. Canada is also quite far ahead in the international comparison and occupies the ninth place in this ranking.
Which are the top 5 GDP countries in the world? The US, China, Japan, Germany, and India, respectively, hold those positions in 2023.
China's economy has grown to one of the largest and most powerful in the world over the past few decades. Driven by industrial production and manufacturing exports, China's GDP is actually now the largest in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP) equivalence.
A major lender abroad, China is facing a debt bomb at home: trillions of dollars owed by local governments, their financial affiliates, and real estate developers.
China's $23 Trillion Local Debt Mess Is About to Get Worse. What happened in cash-strapped Hegang points to a long economic slog for the rest of the country.
All of these foresee the U.S. economy growing at somewhere between 0.1% and 1.6% this year, and China's growth as between 4.8% to 6%. So far these estimates are right on track. U.S. GDP grew at an annual rate of 1.1% last quarter, the Commerce Department said this week.
The study by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), based in Canberra, found that in 37 out of 44 areas covering crucial technology such as defense, space, artificial intelligence, and robotics, China is clearly in the lead.
According to projections by Goldman Sachs, an investment bank, China will replace the United States as the world's largest economy by 2050, with India following closely behind in third place. What will these changes mean for American influence in the world?
Some consensus has concluded that China has reached the qualifications of superpower status, citing China's growing political clout and leadership in the economic sectors has given the country renewed standings in the International Community.
The U.S. has a GDP of $22.996 trillion, paired with a GDP per capita of $69,287. The U.S. makes up 23.93% of the total global economy, says Investopedia. The World Bank Group lists China as the second richest country in the world as of 2021, possessing a GDP of $17.734 trillion along with a GDP per capita of $12,556.3.
In total, other territories hold about $7.4 trillion in U.S. debt. Japan owns the most at $1.1 trillion, followed by China, with $859 billion, and the United Kingdom at $668 billion.
China has shifted purchases away from the United States to reduce its reliance on US suppliers, but US farmers remain highly dependent on the Chinese market. In 2022, around 19 percent of US agriculture exports went to China, up from 14 percent in 2017 and 13 percent in 2009.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, Australian Government gross debt has increased from $534.4 billion in March 2019 to $894.9 billion as of 28 October 2022.
An Associated Press analysis of a dozen countries most indebted to China — including Pakistan, Kenya, Zambia, Laos and Mongolia — found paying back that debt is consuming an ever-greater amount of the tax revenue needed to keep schools open, provide electricity and pay for food and fuel.
The United States has the world's highest national debt at $31.4 trillion. Global debt currently stands at $305 trillion, $45 trillion higher than before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Institute of International Finance (IIF) – a global association of the financial industry.
But other experts argue the risk of a hard landing is low. China has little overseas debt, and a high national savings rate. In addition, most of the debt is state owned – state-controlled banks loaned funds to state-controlled firms – giving the government the ability to manage the situation.
As of 2020, China's total government debt stands at approximately ¥ RMB 146 trillion (US$ 47.0 trillion), equivalent to about 45% of GDP. Standard & Poor's Global Ratings has stated Chinese local governments may have an additional ¥ RMB 40 trillion ($5.8 trillion) in off-balance sheet debt.
China, however, is currently in default on its sovereign debt held by American bondholders.
The one sector where China continues to fall behind the United States is economic performance. This might be surprising since China is currently the second largest economy in the world and is poised to overtake the size of the US economy by 2050.
The major sectors and industries driving growth for China include the services sector, agriculture, manufacturing, and technology. China is also one of the world's largest exporters and importers in the world.
China's poverty line is below the level in most upper-middle-income countries, and less than half the $5.50 per day typical of upper-middle-income countries.