Comparing China and India by Economy

China and India are the two emerging economies in the world. As of 2024, 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 26.87% 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 1987, the GDP (Nominal) of both countries was almost equal; even in ppp terms, China was slightly ahead of India in 1990. Now in 2024, China's gdp of $18,533 bn is 4.71 times higher than $373 bn of India. On a ppp basis, the GDP of China (Int. $35,291 bn) is 2.42x of India (Int. $14,594 bn). 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 2024, China ($13,136) is almost 4.8 times richer than India ($2,731) on the nominal and 2.47 times richer in the ppp method. The per capita rank of China and India is 72nd and 141th, resp, in nominal. The per capita rank of China and India is 78th 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 9.69% in 2021 and a record low of -5.78% in 2020. From 1961 to 2023, 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.

• GDP
• GDP per capita
• GDP growth

Projections by IMF

Estimates by World Bank