World Population PyramidsPopulation pyramids and indicators by country and year日本語

United States of America vs China: population pyramids in 1981

1981Swap

United States of AmericaChina

1.5%1%0.5%0%0.5%1%1.5%0102030405060708090100MaleFemale

Each bar is the share of the total population at that single year of age (men left, women right), so countries of different sizes can be compared.

United States of America and China compared

In 1981, the United States of America has a population of 231 million and China 990.2 million; China is about 4.3 times the size of the United States of America.

The share aged 65 and over is 11.1% in the United States of America and 4.4% in China, 6.7 points higher in the United States of America. The median age is 30.3 years in the United States of America and 22.0 years in China.

The total fertility rate is 1.85 in the United States of America and 2.79 in China, so only the United States of America is below the replacement level of about 2.1. Life expectancy at birth is 74.1 years in the United States of America and 64.8 years in China.

By 2050, the population of the United States of America is projected to grow by 64.6% and that of China to grow by 27.8% compared with 1981.

GDP per person is $90K in the United States of America (2025) and $14K in China (2025).

Key figures (1981)

United States of AmericaChina
Population231 million990.2 million
Aged 0–1422.3%35.6%
Aged 15–6466.6%60.0%
Aged 65+11.1%4.4%
Median age30.3 yrs22.0 yrs
Old-age dependency16.77.4
Total fertility rate1.852.79
Life expectancy74.1 yrs64.8 yrs
Population growth+1.01%+1.50%
Net migration (per year)+583,070-28,016
GDP$30.8T (2025)$19.5T (2025)
GDP per person$90K (2025)$14K (2025)
Unemployment4.2% (2025)4.6% (2025)

Economic figures are the latest year published for each country.

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