Why is the American GDP higher than China’s despite China consuming way more electricity?

为什么美国的GDP比中国高，但中国消耗的电量更多？

以下是Quora网友的评论：

Michael Arndt

I wouldn't expect China to consume less electricity than the US. China has more than four times the population of the US. According to visualcapitalist.com, in 2020 on a per capita basis, China consumed 28,072 kWhr and the US consumed 73,677 kWhr.

On a per capita basis, the US consumes 2.6 times what China consumes.

我觉得中国的用电量不可能比美国低。中国的人口是美国的四倍之多。根据visualcapitalist.com的数据，到2020年，中国人均用电量为28,072千瓦时，美国为73,677千瓦时。

按人均计算，美国的消费量是中国的2.6倍。

Figure 1 shows the world's largest economies in 2023. Right now, the US has a larger economy, but the US is spending a far higher percentage of its GDP on the military, wars, proxy wars, and financing its debt. China is in good fiscal shape, whereas the US by all accounts, is in terrible fiscal condition:

图1显示了2023年全球最大的几个经济体。现在，美国的经济规模更大，但美国在军事、战争、代理战争和债务融资上的支出占GDP的比例要高得多。中国的财政状况良好，而人人都说美国的财政状况很糟糕。

Ridzwan Abdul Rahman

What you should compare is not GDP but the rate of growth of GDP.

China has been a very poor country in the past. Their GDP was then less than India’s GDP.

Prior to the initiation of economic reforms and trade liberalization about 40 years ago, China maintained policies that kept the economy very poor, stagnant, centrally controlled, vastly inefficient, and relatively isolated from the global economy.

But they have a high rate of GDP growth now and has overtaken the US GDP in PPP terms. It is expected that China will surpass the US GDP (nominal) by 2030.

你应该对比的不是GDP，而是GDP的增长率。

中国曾经是一个非常贫穷的国家。当时他们的GDP连印度都不如。

大约40年前，在中国开始实行经济改革和贸易自由化前，政策造成中国经济的状况非常糟糕，停滞不前，中央控制，效率低下，孤立于全球经济之外。

但现在中国的GDP增长率很高，按购买力平价计算已经超过了美国。预计到2030年，中国的名义GDP也将超过美国。

Chiu Yu

This should answer your question. (source: Proportions of economic sectors in gross domestic product (GDP) in selected countries 2022 | Statista)

这张图片应该能回答你的问题。资料来源：部分国家各行业占国内生产总值(GDP)的比例2022 | Statista

Timur Usman

In analyzing the prevalence of Americans holding multiple credit cards (over 10), one observes a concerning trend wherein individuals may resort to utilizing one credit card to offset debts accumulated on others. This phenomenon reflects a broader issue of financial management and consumer behavior, warranting further examination:

The United States exerts considerable influence over key global financial institutions such as the World Bank and IMF, as well as credit rating agencies responsible for assessing economic stability. This influence often translates into favorable ratings for the U.S. economy and its currency, the dollar. Consequently, during periods of global economic downturn, the relative strength of the U.S. dollar persists.

在分析美国人持有多张信用卡(超过10张)的普遍程度时，我们发现了一个令人担忧的趋势，即美国人可能会用一张信用卡来拆抵其他信用卡累积的债务。这种现象反映出一个更普遍的财务管理和消费者行为问题，值得进一步研究：

美国对世界银行、国际货币基金组织等全球主要金融机构以及负责评估经济稳定性的信用评级机构具有相当大的影响力。这种影响往往会导致对美国经济及美元的好评。因此，在全球经济低迷时期，美元的相对强势可以得到维持。

However, this situation highlights a systemic vulnerability stemming from the overreliance on Western financial institutions, which tend to accord the U.S. disproportionately high ratings and confer upon the dollar the status of a world reserve currency. Consequently, when the U.S. experiences a recession, its impact reverberates throughout the global economy, underscoring the interconnectedness and potential fragility of the international financial system.

China's greater energy consumption compared to the US, despite lower GDP, is driven by its reliance on energy-intensive industries, large population, and ongoing modernization efforts in energy infrastructure.

但这种情况凸显了一种系统性的脆弱性，这种脆弱性源于对西方金融机构的过度依赖，这些机构往往为美国订出太高的评级，赋予美元世界储备货币的地位。因此，当美国开始出现衰退时，全球经济都会受到波及，凸显了国际金融体系的互联性和潜在的脆弱性。

虽然中国的GDP不如美国，但能源消耗却高于美国，这是因为中国对能源密集型产业的依赖、庞大的人口和能源基础设施现代化进程等因素造成的。

Alan McCaslin

Because we measure our GDP, at least in actual goods production, in terms of Value Added, which is the sum of employee compensation, taxes on production & imports, and profits—and American employee compensation has been inflated by Executive Compensation and Profits by offshoring of production.

But according to OCED statistics, China’s Purchasing Power Parity—what things cost in the U.S. vs. China—is 4.022 relative to the dollar. In real buying power and goods production terms, China’s GDP dwarfs ours. Our goods and services just cost four times as much, falsely inflating our official GDP.

因为至少在实际的商品生产中，我们用附加值的增加来衡量我们的GDP，增加值是雇员薪酬、生产和进口税以及利润的总和—而美国的雇员薪酬被高管的天价薪酬和生产外包带来的利润夸大了。

但根据经合组织的统计数据，中国的购买力平价（美国与中国的商品价格对比）是4.022。在实际购买力和商品生产方面，中国的GDP让我们相形见绌。

我们的商品和服务的成本是中国的四倍，我们的官方GDP被严重夸大了。

Mr.wonder  

What causes China's GDP to increase every year compared to the US?

chineses at all levels work hard to develop their economy.

Favorable policies aimed at promoting the national economy are being rolled out continuously and are put into action as planned.

China has done a great job in containing the pandemic, which laid a solid foundation for economic recovery.

China keeps attracting foreign investment.

China has made efforts to improve its business environment.

Technological development and innovations help drive the growth of national economy.

和美国比，为什么中国的GDP每年都能增长？

中国各级政府努力发展经济。

他们不断出台促进国民经济发展的优惠政策，并按计划推动实施。

中国的疫情防控取得了显著成效，为经济复苏奠定了坚实基础。

中国持续吸引外资。

中国努力改善营商环境。

科技发展和创新是国民经济增长的动力。

Lance Chambers

Can China surpass USA this decade in GDP, epecially after Covid-19?

China was going to surpass the US economy in about 20 years anyway. Can I suggest that Covid-19 and the US administration have, by failing to address Covid-19, will see their economy fall behind China a bit earlier than it would have otherwise.

The American economy was growing at about 2.0% - 2.1% per annum while China was growing at 6.0% - 6.2%. China has recovered and is getting back to work while the US may have at a minimum, can I suggest, 8 - 12 months before things return to anything close to that 2.0%.

The figures were suggesting that China would eclipse the US within 2 years or a bit less. However, given what has happened can I suggest 18 - 20 months before China has the largest economy in the world?

中国的GDP能在十年内超过美国吗，尤其是在新冠疫情之后？

无论如何，中国经济都会在大约20年内超过美国。我斗胆说一句，新冠疫情和美国政府—由于未能应对新冠疫情—会导致美国经济更早开始落后于中国。

美国经济的年增长率仅为2.0% - 2.1%，而中国的年增长率为6.0% - 6.2%。中国已经复苏，全面复工，而美国至少还需要8 - 12个月的时间才能恢复到接近2.0%的增长水平。

这些数据先是，中国将在两年内或更短的时间内超过美国。鉴于现状，我合理推测中国会在18 - 20个月后成为世界上最大的经济体。

Lim Giok Beng

If China's infrastructure already exceeds the United States, how come the GDP numbers does not reflect that?

Because the GDP nominal value is very dependent on each individual country's cost structure.

For instance, it cost more than $150,000 to get a heart bypass surgery in the US but cost less than $20,000 in China and even with a higher success rate.

如果中国的基础设施已经超过美国，为什么GDP数据没有反映这一点？

因为GDP的名义价值很大程度上取决于每个国家的成本结构。

例如，在美国做心脏搭桥手术要花费超过15万美元，而在中国只需要不到2万美元，而且成功率还比美国更高。

Jacob Stelling

Why is electricity consumption in China higher than in the USA despite the USA having a larger GDP between the two?

China has a population that is nearly twice that of the US. Although the energy consumption per person is lower, there are more people.

为什么中国的用电量比美国高，但美国的GDP比中国高？

中国的人口几乎是美国的两倍。虽然中国的人均能源消耗较美国低，但总人口多了许多。

Ming Chan

Why is electricity consumption in China higher than in the USA despite the USA having a larger GDP between the two?

For the difference in power consumption between US and RPC, I believe the major contributing factor is different economic structure.

According to CIA's estimation, in 2016, 18.9% of US GDP was originated from industry sector, and the for China the number was 39.8%.

Generally speaking, manufacturers consume much more electricity than similar sized service providers.

为什么中国的用电量比美国高，但美国的GDP比中国高？

对于美国和中国之间的用电量差异，我认为主要是因为两国经济结构不同。

据美国中央情报局估计，美国GDP的18.9%来自工业制造，而中国的这一比例高达39.8%。

一般来说，制造工厂比同等规模的服务场所消耗的电力更多。

George Tait Edwards

Why is the GDP (nominal) of the US higher than the GDP (nominal) of China?

为什么美国的名义GDP高于中国的名义GDP？

1 Answer The nominal GDP of the USA is higher because the US economy is a low investment low growth consumer society and the US dollar is overvalued and the USA is running a deficit for political purposes, while the nominal GDP of China is lower because the Chinese economy is a high investment high growth economy with an undervalued currency for economic purposes.

1.美国的名义GDP较高，因为美国经济是一个低投资低增长的消费型社会，美元被高估了，美国出于政治目的而维持赤字，而中国的名义GDP较低，因为中国经济是一个高投资高增长的经济体，为了某些经济目的，人民币被低估了。

2 Background Manufacturing industry in the USA is only about 40% of that in China.

2.1 The previous situation A strong dollar and a deliberately devalued Yuan had made the nominal GDP of the USA higher than the nominal GDP of China.

2.2 The Comparative Data at PPP Estimates

*The USA at 2018 PPP estimated at $19.79tr. and

*China at 2018 PPP estimated at $24.69tr. so

*Chinese 2018 GDP at PPP is likely to be about 24.8% greater than that of the USA.

2. 美国的制造业规模只有中国的40%左右。

2.1 以前，强势美元和人民币有意贬值使得美国的名义GDP高于中国的名义GDP。

2.2 购买力平价估算的比较数据。

• 美国2018年购买力平价估计为19.79万亿美元。和

•按2018年购买力平价计算，中国预计为24.69万亿美元。

• 按购买力平价计算，2018年中国GDP可能比美国高出约24.8%。

2.3 The Effect of a 2% devaluation of the Yuan on nominal GDP comparisons

The gap between the Chinese 2017 GDP at ERV (Exchange Rate Values = Nominal) which was $12.01tr., and the same-dated US GDP at ERV which was $19.36tr. so a 2% Yuan devaluation would reduce Chinese GDP at ERV to about $11.77tr.

But the PPP numbers would not change at all, although the 2% devaluation would eventually stimulate higher exports.

2.3 人民币贬值2%对名义GDP比较的影响

中国2017年GDP在ERV(汇率价值=名义汇率)上的差距为12.01万亿美元。按汇率计算，美国同期GDP为19.36万亿美元。因此，人民币贬值2%将使中国的ERV GDP减少到11.77万亿美元左右。

虽然2%的贬值会刺激出口的增长，但购买力平价数据根本不会改变。

3 General Comments

Because the USA on 2017 is importing $2.352tr - much more than it is exporting at $1.576tr. - it has a balance of payments problem of about $776bn pa.

Because China in 2017 is exporting $2.157tr. - much more than it is importing at $1.731 tr.- China has a balance of payments surplus of about $426bn pa.

The USA has to borrow (mainly internationally) to continue to consume more imports than its exports would allow, so US total debt and borrowing has been rising year after year. That’s not sustainable in the long run.

3一般意见

美国在2017年进口了2.352万亿美元，远高于其1.576万亿美元的出口额—美国的国际收支逆差约为每年7760亿美元。

中国在2017年出口了2.157万亿美元，远高于其1.731万亿美元的进口额—中国的国际收支顺差约为每年4260亿美元。

美国不得不借钱(主要是在国际上借债)来继续消费超过其出口能力的进口商品，所以美国的总债务和借债长期逐年上升。从长远来看，这是无法持续的。

4 Conclusion GDP at PPP is by far the best measure to compare the economic strength of nations.

4.到目前为止，以购买力平价计算的GDP是比较各国经济实力的最佳指标。