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Country guide· 41 min read

China rankings 2026: where China places in 262 global Top 10s

China is #1 in Biggest exporters of goods and services, #1 in 83 rankings and inside the top 10 of 177 rankings. Every position, value and source, regenerated as the data refreshes.

How does China compare with the rest of the world? On Top10Earth it is ranked in 262 of 491 live country rankings, each one built from a named public source. This page gathers every position, value and date in one place. Its best position is #1 in Biggest exporters of goods and services, where it is measured at 4,136.84 BoP, current US$ bn (Exports of goods and services) as of 2026-10-29. China holds the #1 spot in 83 rankings and finishes inside the top 10 in 177 rankings.

Where China is number one

These are the rankings China currently tops. The next country in each table is listed too, because a #1 by a whisker and a #1 by a mile are different stories.

Top 10 finishes

China is inside the top 10 of 94 further rankings beyond the ones it leads. Each entry names the country directly above it, which is the position to beat at the next refresh.

The remaining 82 top-10 positions are in the full list at the end of this guide.

China by theme

The rankings are grouped by category below, so the economic picture, the health picture and the environmental picture can be read separately. Positions are out of the number of countries each source reports, which differs by ranking.

Environment and energy

In environment and energy, China holds 86 positions: #1 of 50 in Countries consuming the most coal (25.6k TWh), #1 of 50 in Countries emitting the most CO2 (12.3k million tonnes), #1 of 50 in Countries emitting the most CO2 including land use change (12.0k million tonnes) and #1 of 50 in Countries gaining the most forest area each year (1,611 thousand hectares). 82 more rankings are listed below.

Food and agriculture

In food and agriculture, China holds 59 positions: #1 of 50 in Countries catching the most wild fish (13.3k thousand metric tons), #1 of 50 in Countries producing the most farmed fish (81.9k thousand metric tons), #1 of 50 in Countries producing the most fish and seafood (64.2k thousand tonnes) and #1 of 50 in Countries producing the most meat (97.9k thousand tonnes). 55 more rankings are listed below.

Finance and crypto

In finance and crypto, China holds 53 positions: #1 of 50 in Biggest exporters of goods and services (4,136.84 BoP, current US$ bn), #1 of 50 in Biggest goods exporters (3,752.16 BoP, current US$ bn), #1 of 50 in Countries by current account balance (735.02 BoP, current US$ bn) and #1 of 50 in Countries by net financial account (773.33 BoP, current US$ bn). 49 more rankings are listed below.

World and society

In world and society, China holds 29 positions: #1 of 50 in Countries with the largest aquaculture production (81.9k thousand metric tons), #1 of 50 in Countries with the largest urban population (933.17 million people), #1 of 50 in Countries with the most container port traffic (299.7k thousand TEU) and #1 of 50 in Countries with the most goods transported by rail (3,018.2 billion ton-km). 25 more rankings are listed below.

Health and wellbeing

In health and wellbeing, China holds 19 positions: #1 of 50 in Countries where the most people agree vaccines are effective (97 %), #2 of 50 in Countries where most people agree vaccines are safe (95 %), #2 of 50 in Countries with the most births per year (8,899.88 thousand births) and #12 of 50 in Countries with the most children not vaccinated against DTP3 (395.59 thousand children). 15 more rankings are listed below.

Consumer tech

In consumer tech, China holds 6 positions: #1 of 50 in Countries with the most fixed broadband subscriptions (669.83 million subscriptions), #1 of 50 in Countries with the most fixed telephone subscriptions (166.5k thousand subscriptions), #1 of 50 in Countries with the most internet users (1,288.43 million people) and #1 of 50 in Countries with the most mobile phone subscriptions (1,870.01 million subscriptions). 2 more rankings are listed below.

Education and science

In education and science, China holds 5 positions: #1 of 50 in Countries with the most patent applications by residents (1,672 thousand), #1 of 50 in Countries with the most scientific journal articles (932.71 thousand), #15 of 50 in Countries spending the most on research as a share of GDP (2.58 % of GDP) and #36 of 50 in Countries with the highest adult literacy rates (96.74 %). 1 more ranking is listed below.

Travel

In travel, China holds 5 positions: #1 of 50 in Countries with the most rail travel (0.95 million), #2 of 50 in Countries with the most air passengers (619.22 million), #2 of 50 in Countries with the most airline departures (4,909.13 thousand) and #7 of 50 in Countries earning the most from tourism (27.76 US$ bn). 1 more ranking is listed below.

What changed at the latest refresh

Comparing each ranking's newest snapshot with the one before it, China moved in 238 rankings:

Since the first snapshot

Top10Earth keeps every snapshot it publishes. Where a ranking has been captured at least three times, the first recorded position can be compared with today's:

Where China ranks lowest

A guide that only listed wins would be misleading. China's lowest current positions are 50th of 50 in Countries spending the most on alcohol and tobacco as a share of expenditure (3.16 %), 50th of 50 in Countries with the highest tomato yields (56.48 tonnes per hectare) and 49th of 50 in Countries with the highest death rates from Parkinson's disease (6.26 per 100,000 people). Whether a low position is good or bad depends on the metric: being near the bottom of an emissions or mortality ranking is the better place to be.

Every ranking that includes China

How to read these numbers

Each ranking measures one metric from one named source at one time, so a #3 in one table and a #3 in another are not directly comparable. Countries also report in different years: the capture date is when Top10Earth fetched the data, while the source's own year is stated on each ranking page under methodology. For a side-by-side with another country on the same measures, open any ranking and use the head-to-head links, or visit China's entity page for the live table and rank-history chart.

Top10Earth never estimates or edits a value. Each number is fetched from its source on a schedule, hashed, stored and ranked by software, then checked by a quality gate before it is published. If a refresh fails that gate the previous snapshot stays live and a person looks at why. Every past snapshot is kept, which is what makes the rank-history charts on each ranking page possible.

Questions people ask about China

What is China's best ranking on Top10Earth?

#1 in Biggest exporters of goods and services, with 4,136.84 BoP, current US$ bn (Exports of goods and services) as of 2026-10-29.

How many rankings include China?

262 current country rankings out of 491 on the site, including 83 rankings where it is #1.

Is China in the top 10 of anything?

Yes: 177 rankings, including #1 in Biggest exporters of goods and services, #1 in Biggest goods exporters and #1 in Countries by current account balance.

Where do the numbers come from?

From World Bank Open Data and Our World in Data. Each ranking page names its source, metric definition and capture date.

When was this guide last updated?

The newest snapshot used here was captured on 2026-11-02. The guide is regenerated automatically as rankings refresh.

Live table and history →

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