Across the 23 countries surveyed, a median of 41% say the U.S. is the world’s leading economic power as opposed to China, Japan or countries in the EU. This view is especially common in South Korea, Japan, Israel, Poland, India, Hungary and Sweden, where half or more name the U.S. as the top economy.

A median of 33% believe China is the leading global economic power. Italy is the only nation in the study where a majority expresses this view, although half of Australians and 48% in Greece and Spain agree.

The share who say the U.S. is the world’s top economy has grown 17 percentage points in Germany since this question was last asked in 2020. Double-digit increases were also observed in Sweden and Japan, with smaller increases in France, Canada, the Netherlands and South Korea. Among countries where this question was last asked in 2019, double-digit increases are observed in Indonesia, Hungary and Poland.

However, there is agreement that the U.S. and China are the two global economic powers. Either the U.S. or China were the top choice in all countries surveyed as opposed to Japan or the EU.

Middle-income countries largely see benefits to U.S. investment, except Argentina

Out of the eight middle-income countries in the survey, as designated by the World Bank, majorities in seven say their economies have benefited from U.S. investment. Seven-in-ten or more in Nigeria, Kenya, India and Mexico see American investment as a net positive for their domestic economies. Kenyans (45%) and Nigerians (43%) are the most likely to say their economy has benefited a great deal.

Argentina, on the other hand, is the only nation where a majority of respondents believe American investment has not been good for their country.