India and the US: 5 ways the countries compare

Feb 26, 2020

U.S. President Donald Trump shake hands with India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of their meeting at Hyderabad House in New Delhi, India, February 25, 2020. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi - RC2H7F95CJQ7

President Trump met with Prime Minister Modi. Image: REUTERS/Adnan Abidi - RC2H7F95CJQ7

Joe Myers

Writer, Forum Agenda

Our Impact

What's the World Economic Forum doing to accelerate action on Geographies in Depth?

The Big Picture

Explore and monitor how United States is affecting economies, industries and global issues

A hand holding a looking glass by a lake

Crowdsource Innovation

Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale

Stay up to date:

United States

President Trump and Prime Minister Modi met during the US President's first official visit to India.
India and the US are the world's two largest democracies.
From gender equality to GDP, this is how they line up.

US President Donald Trump has conducted his first official visit to India. He visited the Taj Mahal and met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

But, how do the two countries - the world's largest democracies - compare on a number of key indicators?

Have you read?

Social mobility

The World Economic Forum's Social Mobility Report 2020 provides an assessment of the policies, practices and institutions that determine the extent to which everyone in society has a fair chance.

Neither economy is a stand-out performer. The US sits in 27th place, below many developed economies, including Japan, the UK and Denmark.

India takes 76th place, just behind Guatemala, but ahead of South Africa, Bangladesh and Cameroon.

The report argues that closing this gap could bring not only social benefits, but economic ones, too.

The economic opportunity of improved social mobility. Image: World Economic Forum

GDP

The US is still the world's largest economy, according to data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Its gross domestic product (GDP), in current prices, is forecast at $21.4 trillion for 2019.

The same data saw India leapfrog the UK and France to become the world's fifth largest economy last year, valued at $2.94 trillion.

US and India GDP, in current prices. Image: IMF

But, if you consider things in terms of GDP per capita (again in current prices), the gap widens. For the US this is forecast at $65,100 for last year. But for India, this figure is just $2,100.

US and Indian GDP per capita. Image: IMF

Competitiveness

So the economies are large - but how competitive are they?

The World Economic Forum's Global Competitive Report measures just that.

The US was the world's second most competitive economy last year - dropping from first the year before. It's a high scorer on indicators including business dynamism and its financial system.

Discover

What is competitiveness?

What is economic competitiveness? The World Economic Forum, which has been measuring countries' competitiveness since 1979, defines it as: “the set of institutions, policies and factors that determine the level of productivity of a country." Other definitions exist, but all generally include the word “productivity".

The Global Competitiveness Report is a tool to help governments, the private sector, and civil society work together to boost productivity and generate prosperity. Comparative analysis between countries allows leaders to gauge areas that need strengthening and build a coordinated response. It also helps identify best practices around the world.

The Global Competitive Index forms the basis of the report. It measures performance according to 114 indicators that influence a nation’s productivity. The latest edition covered 141 economies, accounting for over 98% of the world’s GDP.

Countries’ scores are based primarily on quantitative findings from internationally recognized agencies such as the International Monetary Fund and World Health Organization, with the addition of qualitative assessments from economic and social specialists and senior corporate executives.

Explore the full report

India was in 68th place in 2019, with strengths including its market size and innovation capability. But, it's held back in the human capital pillar - coming 109 out of 141 economies.

The US took second place last year. Image: World Economic Forum

CO2 emissions

The US and India are among the world's highest emitters of CO2 - second and third, respectively, in 2018, according to Global Carbon Atlas.

But, if you consider this on a per capita basis, both drop down the rankings. The US falls to 12th and India to 130th - where it has Uruguay, Bolivia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines for company.

Discover

How is the World Economic Forum facilitating the transition to clean energy?

The Fostering Effective Energy Transition 2024 report showed that after a decade of progress, the global energy transition has plateaued amid the global energy crisis and geopolitical volatilities.

The World Economic Forum’s Centre for Energy and Materials is driving the transition to a “fit for 2050” energy system. It is a cross-industry platform building new coalitions and delivering insights required for a sustainable, secure and just energy future.

Learn more about our impact:

Clean energy in emerging economies: We are advancing country-specific renewable energy finance solutions for four of the biggest emerging and developing economies: India, Brazil, Nigeria and Indonesia. In the latter, a new solar and battery initiative is bringing 15MW of clean energy to the East Sumba region – enough to power 4,000 homes and avoid 5.5KtCO₂ yearly emissions.
Energy Transition Index: We have measured the progress of 120 countries on the performance of their energy systems, enabling policymakers and businesses to identify the necessary actions for the energy transition.
Mining and metals blockchain: We released a proof of concept to trace emissions across the value chain using blockchain technology, helping accelerate global action for country-specific financing solutions.
Clean power and electrification: We are accelerating the adoption of clean power and electric solutions in the next decade to help increase clean energy consumption threefold by 2030.

Want to know more about our centre’s impact or get involved? Contact us.

Gender equality

In the latest World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap report, the US came in 53rd out of 153 economies. Political empowerment and labour force participation are two notable areas needing improvment.

Discover

What's the World Economic Forum doing about the gender gap?

The World Economic Forum has been measuring gender gaps since 2006 in the annual Global Gender Gap Report.

The Global Gender Gap Report tracks progress towards closing gender gaps on a national level. To turn these insights into concrete action and national progress, we have developed the Gender Parity Accelerator model for public private collaboration.

These accelerators have been convened in twelve countries across three regions. Accelerators are established in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Mexico and Panama in partnership with the Inter-American Development Bank in Latin America and the Caribbean, Egypt and Jordan in the Middle East and North Africa, and Japan and Kazakhstan in Asia.

All Country Accelerators, along with Knowledge Partner countries demonstrating global leadership in closing gender gaps, are part of a wider ecosystem, the Global Learning Network, that facilitates exchange of insights and experiences through the Forum’s platform.

Have you read?

In these countries CEOs and ministers are working together in a three-year time frame on policies that help to further close the economic gender gaps in their countries. This includes extended parental leave, subsidized childcare and making recruitment, retention and promotion practices more gender inclusive.

If you are a business in one of the Gender Parity Accelerator countries you can join the local membership base.

If you are a business or government in a country where we currently do not have a Gender Parity Accelerator you can reach out to us to explore opportunities for setting one up.

India took 112th place, scoring highly on the political empowerment pillar, but close to the bottom on the economic participation and opportunity and health and survival pillars.

gender gap average wage developing developed countries

The gender gap in wages. Image: World Economic Forum

Don't miss any update on this topic

Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.