China: General government final consumption expenditure (current US$)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2024, China's general government final consumption expenditure (current US$) fell 0.4% on 2023 (from US$3.14 trillion to US$3.13 trillion).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1994 to 2023), the average change was +14.1% and a typical year strayed about 7.6% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.9 standard deviations below that average, so it was larger than a typical year, though not out of the range seen before.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 29.5% in 2011 and the biggest yearly fall was 16.1% in 1962. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2015 to 2024 the straight-line trend is upward, about US$165.65 billion a year. A straight line explains 96% of the movement over 10 observed years.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

A straight-line projection, tested first

Extending that straight line gives about US$3.78 trillion for 2027. We show this only because the same method, fitted on earlier years, predicted 2022 to 2024 better than "no change" would have: its average miss was US$99.07 billion, against US$131.15 billion for assuming no change. Treat it as a continuation of the recent pattern, not a forecast of events: it cannot see a recession, a policy change or a revision to the data.

See how a linear trend forecast works and the guide on forecasting without fooling yourself.

How it compares

In 2024, China had the 2nd highest value of the 35 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.

Closest to China in the 2024 ranking

• United States — 1st of 35: US$3.99 trillion
• Japan — 3rd of 35: US$844.05 billion
• Iraq — 4th of 35: US$62.03 billion
• New Zealand — 5th of 35: US$55.07 billion

What this measures

Final consumption expenditure is expenditure on goods and services by resident institutional units for the direct satisfaction of human needs or wants, whether individual or collective. General government FCE includes all government current expenditures for purchases of goods and services (including compensation of employees), and most expenditures on national defense and security, but excludes government military expenditures that are part of government capital formation. This indicator is expressed in current prices, meaning no adjustment has been made to account for price changes over time. This indicator is expressed in United States dollars.

Limitations: Because policymakers have tended to focus on fostering the growth of output, and because data on production are easier to collect than data on spending, many countries generate their primary estimate of GDP using the production approach. Moreover, many countries do not estimate all the components of national expenditures but instead derive some of the main aggregates indirectly using GDP (based on the production approach) as the control total.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a gap-filled total.

All 65 values

General government final consumption expenditure (current US$) in nearby economies

• Australia — US$416.34 billion (2025)
• Brunei Darussalam — US$3.58 billion (2025)
• Cambodia — US$2.9 billion (2025)
• Fiji — US$1.13 billion (2024)
• French Polynesia — US$2.02 billion (2024)
• Hong Kong SAR, China — US$53.72 billion (2025)
• Indonesia — US$108.89 billion (2025)
• Japan — US$844.05 billion (2024)
• Kiribati

More economic policy & debt data for China

• Exports of goods and services (current US$) — US$4.11 trillion (2025)
• Exports of goods and services (current LCU) — 29.54 trillion (2025)
• Exports of goods and services (% of GDP) — 21.07% (2025)
• Imports of goods and services (current US$) — US$3.29 trillion (2025)
• Imports of goods and services (current LCU) — 23.67 trillion (2025)
• Imports of goods and services (% of GDP) — 16.89% (2025)
• External balance on goods and services (current US$) — US$816.19 billion (2025)
• External balance on goods and services (current LCU) — 5.87 trillion (2025)
• External balance on goods and services (% of GDP) — 4.19% (2025)

Reading data like this

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
• Data analysis examples: 6 worked from one dataset — 3 min read
• Real change or random noise? A plain guide to reading your numbers — 2 min read

Questions people ask

What is China's general government final consumption expenditure (current US$)?

US$3.13 trillion in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1960?

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator NE.CON.GOVT.CD, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Country official statistics, National Statistical Organizations and/or Central Banks; National Accounts data files, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD); Staff estimates, World Bank (WB) Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

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