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

United States of America vs China: population pyramids in 1998

1998Swap

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 1998, the United States of America has a population of 274.7 million and China 1.25 billion; China is about 4.5 times the size of the United States of America.

The share aged 65 and over is 12.3% in the United States of America and 6.5% in China, 5.8 points higher in the United States of America. The median age is 34.8 years in the United States of America and 28.5 years in China.

The total fertility rate is 1.98 in the United States of America and 1.52 in China, both below the replacement level of about 2.1. Life expectancy at birth is 76.7 years in the United States of America and 71.6 years in China.

By 2050, the population of the United States of America is projected to grow by 38.4% and that of China to grow by 1.5% compared with 1998.

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

Key figures (1998)

United States of AmericaChina
Population274.7 million1.25 billion
Aged 0–1421.5%26.0%
Aged 15–6466.2%67.5%
Aged 65+12.3%6.5%
Median age34.8 yrs28.5 yrs
Old-age dependency18.69.6
Total fertility rate1.981.52
Life expectancy76.7 yrs71.6 yrs
Population growth+0.98%+0.76%
Net migration (per year)+1.2 million-40,472
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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