This country comparison is a concise, tabular overview of numerous data from our respective country pages for China and United States. For further information and explanations, we provide many details per country that go far beyond this comparison. For example, there are separate sub-pages for both countries on economy, climate, energy, refugees, inflation, population and much more.
In addition, we offer several international comparisons on individual topics, which are also linked on this page.
See also: Explanations and country ranking on quality of life
In addition, we offer several international comparisons on individual topics, which are also linked on this page.
General information
| China | United States | |
|---|---|---|
| Region: | East Asia | North America |
| Area: | 9,562,910 km² | 9,831,510 km² |
| Official language: | Chinese | English |
| Government form: | People's republic (communist one-party system) | Federal presidential republic |
| Independent since: | 1523 BC | 1776 AD |
| Capital: | Beijing | Washington, D.C. |
Population
Details for China and the United States| China | United States | |
|---|---|---|
| Population: | 1,412,360,000 | 331,894,000 |
| Inhabitants/km²: | 147.7 | 33.8 |
| Life expectancy males: | Ø 75 years | Ø 75 years |
| Life expectancy females: | Ø 79 years | Ø 80 years |
| Average age: | Ø 38.4 years | Ø 38.5 years |
| Birthrate: | 8.52 ‰ | 10.90 ‰ |
| Deathrate: | 7.07 ‰ | 10.30 ‰ |
| Migrationrate: | -0.11 ‰ | 3.02 ‰ |
Quality of life
Values from 0 (bad) to 100 (very good)See also: Explanations and country ranking on quality of life
| China | United States | |
|---|---|---|
| Political stability: | 69 | 63 |
| Civil rights: | 37 | 81 |
| Health: | 67 | 71 |
| Climate: | 54 | 66 |
| Cost of Living: | 38 | 37 |
| Popularity: | 73 | 71 |
Economy
Details for China and the United States| China | United States | |
|---|---|---|
| Currency: | Renminbi Yuan (1 CNY = 100 Fen) | US Dollar (1 USD =100 Cents) |
| Unemployment rate: | 4.8 % | 5.5 % |
| Inflation rate: | 0.98 % | 4.70 % |
| Cost of Living: (USA = 100%) | 63.16 % | 100.00 % |
| Commercial taxes and contributions: | 59.20 % | 36.60 % |
| Average income: | 11,890 US$ | 70,430 US$ |
| Corruption index: | 55 (bad) | 33 (moderate) |
| CHN: total | per 1000 inh. | USA: total | per 1000 inh. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gross domestic product: | 17,734,063 M US$ | 12.56 M US$ | 22,996,100 M US$ | 69.29 M US$ |
| Gross national product: | 16,789,239 M US$ | 11.89 M US$ | 23,374,712 M US$ | 70.43 M US$ |
| Exported goods: | 3,554,296 M US$ | 2.52 M US$ | 2,532,951 M US$ | 7.63 M US$ |
| Imported goods: | 3,091,488 M US$ | 2.19 M US$ | 3,394,346 M US$ | 10.23 M US$ |
Infrastructure
| CHN: total | per 1000 inh. | USA: total | per 1000 inh. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roadways: | 4,960,600 km | 3.51 km | 6,586,610 km | 19.85 km |
| Railways: | 68,141 km | 0.05 km | 293,564 km | 0.88 km |
| Waterways: | 110,000 km | 0.08 km | 41,009 km | 0.12 km |
| Harbours: | 6,662 | 0.0047 | 3,627 | 0.0109 |
| Passenger airports: | 214 | 0.0002 | 436 | 0.0013 |
Energy balance
Details for China and the United States| CHN: total | per 1000 inh. | USA: total | per 1000 inh. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Energy consumption: | 5,564.00 bn kWh | 3.94 m kWh | 3,902.00 bn kWh | 11.76 m kWh |
| Energy production: | 5,883.00 bn kWh | 4.17 m kWh | 4,095.00 bn kWh | 12.34 m kWh |
| Energy export: | 18.91 bn kWh | 13,388.94 kWh | 9.70 bn kWh | 29,211.16 kWh |
| Energy imports: | 6.19 bn kWh | 4,379.20 kWh | 72.72 bn kWh | 219,106.27 kWh |
| CO2 emissions: | 10.71 bn t | 7,581.08 t | 4.82 bn t | 14,515.85 t |
Telecommunication
| China | United States | |
|---|---|---|
| International dialing: | +86 | +1 |
| Internet domain: | .cn | .us |
| CHN total | CHN per 1000 inh. | USA total | USA per 1000 inh. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Landlines: | 181,908,000 | 129 | 101,526,000 | 306 |
| Mobile cellulars: | 1,718,411,000 | 1217 | 351,477,000 | 1059 |
| Internet server: | 20,602,000 | 15 | 505,000,000 | 1522 |
| Internet users: | 994,368,886 | 704 | 301,691,414 | 909 |
| Broadband Internet: | 483,549,500 | 342 | 121,176,000 | 365 |
Healthcare system
Details for China and the United States| China | United States | |
|---|---|---|
| Hospital beds per 1000 inh.: | 4.31 | 2.87 |
| Physicians per 1000 inh.: | 1.79 | 2.59 |
| Diabetes: | 9.2 % | 10.8 % |
| Tuberculosis: | 0.59 ‰ | 0.02 ‰ |
| Tuberculosis cure rate: | 94.0 % | 75.0 % |
| Smokers: | 25.6 % | 23.0 % |
Climate
We also provide a more detailed climate comparison of both countries.The data for each country can be found here: China and United States
| China | United States | |
|---|---|---|
| Daytime temperatures: | 19.0 °C | 18.7 °C |
| Nighttime temperatures: | 9.2 °C | 7.1 °C |
| Water temperature: | 17.9 °C | 17.7 °C |
| Rel. humidity: | 69 % | 67 % |
| Rain days: | 6.4 | 7.1 |
| Sunshine hours per day: | 5.9 | 7.2 |
Native languages
| China | United States | |
|---|---|---|
| Chinese: | 92.0 % | 0.9 % |
| English: | n/a | 82.1 % |
| Spanish: | n/a | 10.7 % |
| Hakka: | 1.8 % | n/a |
| Zhuang: | 1.4 % | n/a |
| Mantšu: | 0.9 % | n/a |
| Hui: | 0.8 % | n/a |
| French: | n/a | 0.7 % |
| Uighur: | 0.6 % | n/a |
| Yi: | 0.6 % | n/a |
| German: | n/a | 0.6 % |
| Italian: | n/a | 0.6 % |
| Tujia: | 0.5 % | n/a |
| Tibetan: | 0.4 % | n/a |
| Tagalog: | n/a | 0.4 % |
| Mongolian: | 0.4 % | n/a |
| Korean: | n/a | 0.3 % |
| Polish: | n/a | 0.3 % |
| Puyi: | 0.2 % | n/a |
| Dong: | 0.2 % | n/a |
| Vietnamese: | n/a | 0.2 % |
| Japanese: | n/a | 0.2 % |
| Portuguese: | n/a | 0.2 % |
| Russian: | n/a | 0.2 % |
| Eskimo: | n/a | 0.0 % |
| other: | 0.2 % | 2.6 % |
Religions
| China | United States | |
|---|---|---|
| Christianity: | 2.3 % | 78.5 % |
| Nondenominational: | 58.5 % | n/a |
| Local chinese beliefs: | 17.5 % | n/a |
| Buddhism: | 6.2 % | 0.7 % |
| Taoism: | 4.4 % | n/a |
| Jewry: | n/a | 1.8 % |
| Islam: | 1.7 % | 1.1 % |
| Sikhism: | n/a | 1.6 % |
| Hinduism: | 0.1 % | 1.0 % |
| other: | 9.3 % | 15.3 % |