Comparing China and India by Economy

Source World Bank : Nominal, PPP, Nominal per capita, PPP per capita
International Monetary Fund
Date08 Dec 2023

China and India are the two emerging economies in the world. As of 2023, China and India are the 2nd and 5th largest economies in the world, respectively, on a nominal basis. On a PPP basis, China is at 1st, and India is at 3rd place. Both countries share 20.51% and 26.32% of the total global wealth in nominal and PPP terms, respectively. Among Asian countries, China and India together contribute more than half of Asia's GDP.

In 1988, the GDP (Nominal) of both countries was almost equal; even in ppp terms, China was slightly ahead of India in 1990. Now in 2023, China's gdp is 4.74 times higher than India. On a ppp basis, the GDP of China is 2.51x of India. China crossed the $1 trillion mark in 1998, while India crossed nine years later in 2007 on an exchange rate basis.

Both countries have been neck-to-neck in gdp per capita terms till 1991. As per both methods, India was richer than China in 1990. In 2023, China is almost 4.8 times richer than India on the nominal and 2.54 times richer in the ppp method. The per capita rank of China and India is 75th and 143th, resp, in nominal. The per capita rank of China and India is 77th and 131th, resp, in ppp.

China attains a maximum gdp growth rate of 19.30% in 1970 and a minimum of -27.27% in 1961. India reached an all-time high of 9.63% in 1988 and a record low of -5.83% in 2020. From 1961 to 2022, China grew by more than 10% in 22 years while India never. GDP growth rate was negative in five years for both China and India.

According to CIA Fackbook, the sector-wise GDP composition of India in 2017 are as follows: Agriculture (15.4%), Industry (23%), and Services (61.5%). The Sector-wise GDP composition of China in 2017 are Agriculture (8.3%), Industry (39.5%), and Services (52.2%).

  • GDP
  • GDP per capita
  • GDP growth

Projections by IMF

Year Nominal GDP (billions $) PPP GDP (billions Int. $) Nominal GDP capita ($) PPP GDP capita (Int. $) Growth (%)
ChinaIndiaChinaIndia ChinaIndiaChinaIndiaChinaIndia
202317,700.903,732.2232,897.9313,119.6212,5412,61223,3099,1835.0106.332
202418,560.014,105.3835,042.6914,261.1813,1562,84824,8399,8924.1606.293
202519,781.704,511.8537,220.7615,469.0814,0313,10226,40110,6354.1176.327
202621,059.834,951.6239,487.6116,765.1914,9523,37528,03511,4264.0716.316
202722,291.055,427.3941,682.4718,155.6815,8443,66829,62612,2713.6636.349
202823,608.865,944.3843,889.8819,650.2216,8033,98531,23713,1733.3806.263

Estimates by World Bank

Year Nominal GDP (billions $) PPP GDP (billions Int. $) Nominal GDP capita ($) PPP GDP capita (Int. $) Growth (%)
ChinaIndiaChinaIndia ChinaIndiaChinaIndiaChinaIndia
196059.7237.03--9083----
196150.0639.23--7686---27.2703.723
196247.2142.16--7190---5.5802.931
196350.7148.42--74101--10.3005.994
196459.7156.48--85115--18.1807.453
196570.4459.55--98119--16.950-2.636
196676.7245.87--10490--10.650-0.055
196772.8850.13--9796---5.7707.826
196870.8553.09--91100---4.1003.388
196979.7158.45--100107--16.9406.540
197092.6062.42--113112--19.3005.157
197199.8067.35--119118--7.0601.643
1972113.6971.46--132123--3.810-0.553
1973138.5485.52--157143--7.7603.296
1974144.1999.53--160163--2.3101.185
1975163.4398.47--178158--8.7209.150
1976153.94102.72--165161---1.5701.663
1977174.94121.49--185186--7.5707.255
1978149.54137.30--156206--11.3265.713
1979178.28152.99--184225--7.591-5.238
1980191.15186.33--195267--7.8346.736
1981195.87193.49--197271--5.1136.006
1982205.09200.72--203275--9.0173.476
1983230.69218.26--225293--10.7707.289
1984259.95212.16--251278--15.1923.821
1985309.49232.51--294298--13.4315.254
1986300.76248.99--282312--8.9504.777
1987272.97279.03--252342--11.6573.965
1988312.35296.59--284356--11.2239.628
1989347.77296.04--311347--4.2065.947
1990360.86320.981,114.091,048.243183699811,2043.9205.533
1991383.37270.111,258.451,095.143333041,0941,2329.2631.057
1992426.92288.211,470.221,181.503663181,2621,30214.2255.482
1993444.73279.301,714.031,266.973773021,4541,36813.8844.751
1994564.32327.281,978.861,380.194733461,6601,46013.0376.659
1995734.49360.282,241.661,515.876103741,8611,57210.9547.574
1996863.75392.902,509.211,660.167094002,0611,6889.9237.550
1997961.60415.872,788.251,757.187824152,2671,7539.2374.050
19981,029.06421.353,040.861,886.858294132,4481,8477.8466.184
19991,094.01458.823,319.972,082.708734412,6502,0027.6628.846
20001,211.33468.403,683.442,211.699594422,9172,0878.4903.841
20011,339.40485.444,080.392,370.621,0534503,2082,1978.3364.824
20021,470.56514.944,522.482,499.151,1494693,5322,2759.1343.804
20031,660.28607.705,074.662,748.791,2895443,9392,46010.0387.860
20041,955.35709.155,737.893,046.211,5096244,4272,68110.1147.923
20052,285.96820.386,592.143,390.671,7537115,0562,93711.3957.923
20062,752.12940.267,660.003,777.032,0998025,8433,22212.7218.061
20073,550.331,216.748,986.564,176.282,6941,0236,8193,51014.2317.661
20084,594.341,198.9010,042.804,387.763,4689947,5813,6369.6513.087
20095,101.691,341.8911,057.104,763.063,8321,0978,3063,8939.3997.862
20106,087.191,675.6212,380.205,229.914,5501,3519,2554,21610.6368.498
20117,551.551,823.0513,844.405,618.385,6141,45010,2934,4679.5515.241
20128,532.191,827.6415,124.506,153.166,3011,43411,1694,8287.8645.456
20139,570.471,856.7216,185.106,477.527,0201,43811,8725,0177.7666.386
201410,475.602,039.1317,121.306,781.027,6361,56012,4805,1877.4267.410
201511,061.602,103.5917,796.707,159.808,0161,59012,8985,4127.0417.996
201611,233.302,294.8018,712.107,735.008,0941,71413,4835,7786.8498.256
201712,310.502,651.4719,887.008,276.938,8171,95814,2446,1126.9476.795
201813,894.902,702.9321,739.709,022.949,9051,97415,4986,5916.7506.454
201914,280.002,835.6123,446.609,540.3910,1442,05016,6556,8985.9513.871
202014,687.702,671.6024,284.209,101.3210,4091,91317,2096,5182.239-5.831
202117,820.503,150.3127,518.9010,370.9012,6182,23819,4847,3688.4479.050
202217,963.203,385.0930,327.3011,874.6012,7202,38921,4768,3792.9917.003