Comparing United States and European Union by Economy

The United States and the European Union are the two largest economies globally in nominal terms. As of 2025, both together share 44.38% and 28.85% of the entire global GDP in nominal and PPP terms, respectively.

As per projections by the IMF for 2025, with $30,507 billion, the United States is leading by $10,516 billion, or 1.53 times of the EU ($19,991 billion) on an exchange rate basis. On a purchasing power parity basis, the margin is less as the United States is ahead by Int. $1,330 or 1.05 times of the EU (Int. $29,176 billion). According to estimates by the World Bank from 1960 to 2024, the US has had a higher GDP for 52 years, and the European Union has had a higher GDP for 13 years. 2011 was the latest year when the European Union had a higher GDP than the United States. The ratio between these two was highest at 1.90x in 1960, in favor of the US. With 1.16x of the US's GDP in 1980, the ratio was highest in favor of the EU. Both economies have been neck-to-neck in PPP terms, as the US is leading most at the time.

As of 2025, the United States is almost double richer than the EU, and even in ppp, its figure is 38% higher than that of the European Union. The US had a greater GDP per capita than the EU since 1960.

The US is projected to grow close to 2% in the upcoming years, and the EU might be well short of the 2% mark. The European Union attained a maximum GDP growth rate of 7.03% in 1969 and a minimum of -5.57% in 2020. During the period 1960-2023, the European Union grew by more than 5% in nine years. The United States reached an all-time high of 7.24% in 1984 and a record low of -2.58% in 2009. The United States grew by more than 5% during ten years. GDP growth rate was negative in seven years for the US. The European Union showed negative growth in six years.

• GDP
• GDP per capita
• GDP growth

Projections by IMF

Estimates by World Bank