Mapped: How China Overtook the U.S. in Global Trade (2000–2024)

Bruno Venditti
2025-04-09 08:12:00
www.visualcapitalist.com

See this visualization first on the Voronoi app.

Visualizing the Rise of China in Global Trade (2000–2024)

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

The imposition of tariffs by the Trump administration has sparked global discussions about a potential reshaping of the world economy, with countries considering diversifying trade ties beyond the United States.

The measures announced by the White House target several countries, with China being one of the main ones. President Trump pledged to increase tariffs on China by an additional 50% if the country did not withdraw its 34% retaliatory tariffs, which were introduced in response to U.S. tariffs.

In this visualization, creator Ehsan Soltani explores the shift in global trade dominance between the United States and China over the past two decades. The data is sourced from the United States Census Bureau and the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China.

China’s Trade Surge Over Time

In 2000, U.S. trade totaled $2 trillion—more than four times China’s $474 billion. At the time, China was the primary trade partner for only a handful of countries, including Cuba, Iran, Libya, Myanmar, Mongolia, North Korea, Oman, Sudan, Tanzania, and Vietnam.

From 2000 to 2024, U.S. trade grew by 167% (a 4.2% compound annual growth rate), while China’s trade surged by 1,200% (an 11.3% CAGR), overtaking the U.S. in 2012. By 2024, total trade reached $5.3 trillion for the U.S. and $6.2 trillion for China.

Partner (Billion US$)	U.S. 2000	China 2000	Partner (Billion US$)	U.S. 2024	China 2024
Afghanistan	9	25	Afghanistan	34	1,586
Albania	29	14	Albania	270	1,342
Algeria	3,586	199	Algeria	3,476	12,487
Andorra	11	0	Andorra	8	11
Angola	3,781	1,876	Angola	2,552	20,890
Anguilla	31		Anguilla	74	7
Antigua and Barbuda	140	1	Antigua and Barbuda	598	120
Argentina	7,795	1,540	Argentina	16,263	16,347
Armenia	79	5	Armenia	282	1,802
Aruba	1,827		Aruba	736	87
Australia	18,920	8,453	Australia	51,279	211,899
Austria	5,818	781	Austria	22,046	12,243
Azerbaijan	231	6	Azerbaijan	413	2,467
Bahamas	1,344	8	Bahamas	7,432	1,273
Bahrain	787	121	Bahrain	2,851	1,474
Bangladesh	2,657	918	Bangladesh	10,580	24,078
Barbados	346	3	Barbados	821	197
Belarus	135	114	Belarus	31	8,401
Belgium	23,855	3,687	Belgium	62,028	39,091
Belize	302	4	Belize	672	213
Benin	29	372	Benin	265	1,107
Bermuda	468		Bermuda	564	345
Bhutan	2		Bhutan	7	69
Bolivia	438	17	Bolivia	905	2,721
Bosnia and Herzegovina	62	4	Bosnia and Herzegovina	232	417
Botswana	73	11	Botswana	509	1,012
Brazil	29,173	2,845	Brazil	91,983	188,395
British Indian Ocean Terr.	4		British Indian Ocean Territory	6	1
British Virgin Islands	94	1	British Virgin Islands	373	218
Brunei	540	74	Brunei Darussalam	366	2,814
Bulgaria	350	94	Bulgaria	1,980	4,040
Burkina Faso	18		Burkina Faso	59	742
Burma	488	621	Myanmar	734	16,286
Burundi	10	5	Burundi	10	113
Cabo Verde	11		Cabo Verde	17	114
Cambodia	857	224	Cambodia	12,983	17,818
Cameroon	215	161	Cameroon	442	4,722
Canada	409,779	6,909	Canada	762,056	93,036
Cayman Islands	361		Cayman Islands	1,336	77
Central African Republic	5	1	Central African Republic	36	95
Chad	15	1	Chad	141	1,131
Chile	6,730	2,122	Chile	34,637	61,482
Christmas Island	2		Christmas Island	4	0
Cocos (Keeling) Islands	1		Cocos (Keeling) Islands	4	0
Colombia	10,640	188	Colombia	36,728	21,040
Comoros	4	0	Comoros	7	97
Congo (Brazzaville)	614	342	Congo (Brazzaville)	277	5,714
Congo (Kinshasa)	225	19	Congo (Kinshasa)	576	25,938
Cook Islands	4	0	Cook Islands	8	21
Costa Rica	5,999	75	Costa Rica	21,312	7,760
Cote d’Ivoire	479	230	Côte d’Ivoire	1,611	5,056
Croatia	231	85	Croatia	1,995	2,956
Cuba	7	314	Cuba	591	915
Cyprus	214	152	Curacao	855	88
Czech Republic	1,806	437	Cyprus	242	1,147
Denmark	4,472	1,334	Czech Republic	12,362	23,222
Djibouti	17	54	Denmark	15,848	15,455
Dominica	44	60	Djibouti	185	3,059
Dominican Republic	8,856	76	Dominica	61	47
East Timor	–		Dominican Republic	20,587	5,184
Ecuador	3,276	155	East Timor	25	267
Egypt	4,222	907	Ecuador	16,056	13,981
El Salvador	3,713	63	Egypt	8,638	17,387
Equatorial Guinea	250	323	El Salvador	6,868	1,967
Eritrea	17		Equatorial Guinea	223	1,154
Estonia	661	67	Eritrea	38	604
Eswatini	120	3	Estonia	1,439	1,148
Ethiopia	194	59	Eswatini	69	51
Falkland Islands(Islas Malvin	3		Ethiopia	1,484	3,555
Faroe Islands	33		Falkland Islands (Malvinas)	27	0
Fiji	170	15	Faroe Islands	251
Finland	4,822	3,190	Fiji	354	534
France	50,162	7,667	Finland	10,594	8,216
French Guiana	19		France	103,424	79,826
French Polynesia	138	4	French Guiana	31
French Southern and Antarctic	2		French Polynesia	186	147
Gabon	2,260	342	French Southern and Antarctic	2	0
Gambia	9		Gabon	343	3,642
Gaza Strip admin. by Israel	1		Gambia	83	496
Georgia	141	4	Gaza Strip admin. by Israel	1
Germany	87,961	19,687	Georgia	1,902	2,251
Ghana	396	121	Germany	236,049	201,847
Gibraltar	17		Ghana	2,139	11,826
Greece	1,813	627	Gibraltar	651	43
Greenland	17	6	Greece	4,857	12,862
Grenada	107		Greenland	81	383
Guadeloupe	96		Grenada	179	28
Guatemala	4,508	143	Guadeloupe	474
Guinea	156	34	Guatemala	14,735	5,037
Guinea-Bissau	1	5	Guinea	145	11,583
Guyana	299	14	Guinea-Bissau	4	98
Haiti	874	16	Guyana	6,690	1,407
Heard and McDonald Islands	1		Haiti	1,831	456
Honduras	5,674	62	Heard and McDonald Islands	0
Hong Kong	26,031	53,947	Honduras	12,590	2,033
Hungary	3,284	997	Hong Kong	33,859	310,009
Iceland	516	32	Hungary	15,965	16,176
India	14,354	2,914	Iceland	2,058	443
Indonesia	12,769	7,464	India	129,169	138,570
Iran	186	2,486	Indonesia	38,287	147,985
Iraq	6,076	975	Iran	97	13,374
Ireland	24,177	714	Iraq	9,083	54,236
Israel	20,710	1,054	Ireland	119,824	23,415
Italy	36,103	6,880	Israel	37,010	22,732
Jamaica	2,024	79	Italy	108,768	72,484
Japan	211,404	83,164	Jamaica	3,006	1,090
Jordan	390	253	Japan	227,949	308,321
Kazakhstan	553	1,557	Jordan	5,396	5,364
Kenya	348	137	Kazakhstan	3,408	43,976
Kiribati	6	1	Kenya	1,520	8,829
North Korea	3	488	Kiribati	5	54
South Korea	68,138	34,500	North Korea	2	2,182
Kuwait	3,568	616	South Korea	197,091	328,154
Kyrgyzstan	25	178	Kosovo	83
Laos	14	41	Kuwait	4,055	16,283
Latvia	422	29	Kyrgyzstan	150	22,718
Lebanon	432	169	Laos	844	8,222
Lesotho	141	10	Latvia	1,177	1,148
Liberia	89	161	Lebanon	799	2,205
Libya	18	77	Lesotho	240	153
Liechtenstein	292		Liberia	293	13,163
Lithuania	195	39	Libya	2,033	4,748
Luxembourg	729	99	Liechtenstein	310
Macao	1,337	805	Lithuania	3,941	2,195
Macedonia	221	7	Luxembourg	1,836	748
Madagascar	173	78	Macao	384	4,042
Malawi	69		Macedonia	234	490
Malaysia	36,506	8,045	Madagascar	787	1,680
Maldives	100	1	Malawi	68	266
Mali	42	35	Malaysia	80,240	212,009
Malta	817	95	Maldives	97	619
Marshall Islands	66	2	Mali	57	1,078
Martinique	24		Malta	581	4,540
Mauritania	17	30	Marshall Islands	148	5,312
Mauritius	310	113	Martinique	202
Mexico	247,275	1,824	Mauritania	143	2,439
Micronesia	43	2	Mauritius	283	1,103
Moldova	133	8	Mayotte	4
Monaco	51		Mexico	839,892	109,273
Mongolia	134	323	Micronesia	53	123
Montserrat	11	0	Moldova	190	465
Morocco	964	336	Monaco	210
Mozambique	81	33	Mongolia	424	18,269
Namibia	125	12	Montenegro	43	226
Nauru	5		Montserrat	18	1
Nepal	265	204	Morocco	7,174	9,041
Netherlands	31,507	7,923	Mozambique	366	5,172
Netherlands Antilles	1,393	33	Namibia	436	1,368
New Caledonia	51	3	Nauru	3	20
New Zealand	4,050	1,054	Nepal	241	2,198
Nicaragua	969	43	Netherlands	123,782	109,922
Niger	44		New Caledonia	63	814
Nigeria	11,260	856	New Zealand	10,116	20,143
Niue	0		Nicaragua	7,563	1,252
Norfolk Island	2		Niger	52	836
Norway	7,253	1,097	Nigeria	9,873	21,905
Oman	457	3,321	Niue	5	19
Pakistan	2,629	1,162	Norfolk Island	0	1
Palau	32		Norway	11,175	10,172
Panama	1,919	1,291	Oman	3,274	36,734
Papua New Guinea	57	226	Pakistan	7,259	23,069
Paraguay	487	89	Palau	23	43
Peru	3,655	705	Panama	11,258	12,830
Philippines	22,734	3,142	Papua New Guinea	146	4,606
Pitcairn Islands	3		Paraguay	3,515	2,592
Poland	1,799	960	Peru	20,587	43,165
Portugal	2,563	308	Philippines	23,475	71,625
Qatar	677	472	Pitcairn	1	0
Reunion	4		Poland	25,673	44,924
Romania	706	298	Portugal	9,637	9,266
Russia	9,751	8,003	Qatar	5,638	24,213
Rwanda	24	6	Reunion	56
Samoa	70	2	Romania	5,164	13,445
San Marino	8		Russia	3,534	244,574
Sao Tome and Principe	2		Rwanda	75	670
Saudi Arabia	20,599	3,098	Samoa	60	113
Senegal	86	53	San Marino	105
Serbia and Montenegro	32	68	Sao Tome and Principe	2	21
Seychelles	15	2	Saudi Arabia	25,911	107,429
Sierra Leone	23	9	Senegal	586	5,827
Singapore	36,985	10,821	Serbia	1,024	5,729
Slovakia	351	56	Seychelles	24	84
Slovenia	452	70	Sierra Leone	149	1,782
Solomon Islands	6	14	Singapore	89,236	111,205
Somalia	5	1	Sint Maarten	855	65
South Africa	7,299	2,051	Slovakia	8,740	9,714
Spain	12,036	2,772	Slovenia	6,625	6,634
Sri Lanka	2,207	458	Solomon Islands	14	596
St Helena	4		Somalia	52	972
St Kitts and Nevis	95		South Africa	20,475	52,511
St. Lucia	130	2	South Sudan	60	466
St Pierre and Miquelon	8		Spain	45,189	50,002
St Vincent and the Grenadines	47		Sri Lanka	3,384	5,367
Sudan	19	890	St Lucia	1,051	43
Suriname	270	11	St Pierre and Miquelon	3	0
Svalbard, Jan Mayen Island	0		St Vincent and the Grenadines	151	34
Sweden	14,151	3,503	Sudan	70	1,394
Switzerland	20,114	2,210	Suriname	474	425
Syria	385	174	Svalbard, Jan Mayen Island	0
Taiwan	64,909		Sweden	26,183	18,892
Tajikistan	21	17	Switzerland	88,387	62,878
Tanzania	77	91	Syria	13	390
Thailand	23,003	6,624	Taiwan	158,601	293,055
Togo	17	80	Tajikistan	61	3,863
Tokelau	16		Tanzania	778	8,883
Tonga	12		Thailand	81,047	133,997
Trinidad and Tobago	3,329	27	Togo	374	3,499
Tunisia	383	99	Tokelau	0
Turkey	6,762	1,205	Tonga	23	70
Turkmenistan	112	16	Trinidad and Tobago	6,266	1,167
Turks and Caicos Islands	95	0	Tunisia	1,627	2,882
Tuvalu	–		Turkey	32,039	42,890
Uganda	57	15	Turkmenistan	97	10,648
Ukraine	1,063	591	Turks and Caicos Islands	725	20
United Arab Emirates	3,256	2,495	Tuvalu	1	19
United Kingdom	84,916	9,903	Uganda	239	1,463
Uruguay	850	344	Ukraine	2,870	8,013
Uzbekistan	199	51	United Arab Emirates	34,444	101,785
Vanuatu	2	2	United Kingdom	148,026	98,354
Venezuela	24,173	351	Uruguay	2,878	6,590
Vietnam	1,189	2,466	Uzbekistan	423	13,785
Yemen	445	912	Vanuatu	21	206
Wallis and Futuna	–		Vatican City	1
West Bank admin. by Israel	14	6	Venezuela	10,220	6,407
Western Sahara	–		Vietnam	149,659	260,741
Zambia	37	102	Wallis and Futuna Islands	0	2
Zimbabwe	165	135	Yemen	143	2,494
Palestine	10	155
Zambia	283	6,693
Zimbabwe	112	3,809
Saint Helena	20	0
Saint Kitts and Nevis	180	28

China is now the dominant trade partner for most of Asia, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Oceania, South America, and Africa.

Looking forward, China is expected to continue to deepen its relationships with emerging markets—importing fuels, minerals, and agricultural goods, and exporting manufactured products.

Learn More on the Voronoi App

To learn more about this topic, check out: China’s Exports Grow in Emerging Markets, Decline in the U.S., that shows how China continues to deepen its economic ties away from the United States over the last decades.

The post Mapped: How China Overtook the U.S. in Global Trade (2000–2024) appeared first on Visual Capitalist.

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