More Americans this year think the United States is the world’s leading economic power than said the same in 2021, new polling shows.
A Gallup poll found that 44 percent of Americans now think the U.S. leads the world economy, up 7 points from the 37 percent who said the same in 2021.
In that same two-year time span, the percent of Americans who see China as the leading economic power fell 8 points, from 50 percent in 2021 to 42 percent this year, putting Washington ahead of Beijing by 2 points.
Significantly more Americans saw the U.S. over China as the top economic power back in 2020, the year the COVID-19 pandemic erupted in Wuhan, China — 50 percent to 39 percent — but China had been in the lead for more than a decade beforehand.
Forty-four percent of Americans said they predict the U.S. will be leading the world economy 20 years from now, while 37 percent say it’ll be China.
The poll results come amid heightened U.S.-China tensions. Taken Feb. 1-23, the survey coincided with the U.S. take-down of a Chinese surveillance balloon that had been floating through American airspace and with concerns that China could aid Russia with weapons in its war on Ukraine.
The U.S. has been struggling but appearing resilient amid high inflation and recession fears, while China has reopened its borders in an effort to boost its economy after pandemic shutdowns.
The Gallup poll surveyed 1,008 U.S. adults and had a margin of sampling error of 4 percentage points.