The graph shows China's share in global gross domestic product adjusted for purchasing-power-parity until 2024, with a forecast until 2030. In 2024, China's share was about 19.45 percent. China's global GDP share Due to the introduction of capitalist market principles in 1978, China's economic market began to show immense change and growth. China's real GDP growth ranged at 5.0 percent in 2024. China's per capita GDP is also expected to continue to grow, reaching 13,300 U.S. dollars in 2024. Comparatively, Luxembourg and Switzerland have some of the world’s largest GDP per capita with 141,100 U.S. dollars and 111,700 U.S. dollars, respectively, expected for 2025.China is the largest exporter and second largest importer of goods in the world and is also among the largest manufacturing economies. The country also ranges among the world's largest agricultural producers and consumers. It relies heavily on intensive agricultural practices and is the world's largest producer of pigs, chickens, and eggs. Livestock production has been heavily emphasized since the mid-1970s. China’s chemical industry has also seen growth with a heavy focus on fertilizers, plastics, and synthetic fibers. China's use of chemical fertilizers amounted to approximately 50.2 million metric tons in 2023. GDP composition in China Industry and construction account for less than 40 percent of China's GDP. Some of the major industries include mining and ore processing, food processing, coal, machinery, textiles and apparel, and consumer products. Almost half of China's output is dedicated to investment purposes. However, as the country tends to support gross output, innovation, technological advancement, and even quality are often lacking.

In 1938, the year before the Second World War, the United States had, by far, the largest economy in the world in terms of gross domestic product (GDP). The five Allied Great Powers that emerged victorious from the war, along with the three Axis Tripartite Pact countries that were ultimately defeated made up the eight largest independent economies in 1938.

When values are converted into 1990 international dollars, the U.S. GDP was over 800 billion dollars in 1938, which was more than double that of the second largest economy, the Soviet Union. Even the combined economies of the UK, its dominions, and colonies had a value of just over 680 billion 1990 dollars, showing that the United States had established itself as the world's leading economy during the interwar period (despite the Great Depression).

Interestingly, the British and Dutch colonies had larger combined GDPs than their respective metropoles, which was a key motivator for the Japanese invasion of these territories in East Asia during the war. Trade with neutral and non-belligerent countries also contributed greatly to the economic development of Allied and Axis powers throughout the war; for example, natural resources from Latin America were essential to the American war effort, while German manufacturing was often dependent on Swedish iron supplies.

The late 1800s saw Japan emerge one the global stage as a formidable industrial power. In the century between 1874 and 1975, its industrial output was more comparable with European powers or the United States than any of its Asian neighbors.

During the interwar period (1918-1939), Japan's industry grew rapidly - this was even in spite of international crises, such as the Great Depression or U.S. trade tariffs in the 1930s, as Japan's industrial output still doubled between 1932 and 1939. Output continued to grow during the Second World War, but following the Empire of Japan's defeat in 1945, the most significant downturn in this period occurred, as production in 1946 was less than a quarter of what it had been two years previously. Yet, the postwar period would see Japan become the fastest-growing major economy in the world, with industrial output doubling roughly every five years in the 1950s and 1960s.

Although it was not a united country until 1871, industrialization across Germany began in the early 1800s, and it quickly saw Germany emerge as a Great Power in Europe. German industrialization was largely driven by coal and steel production, of which Germany had rich deposits, and these were used in construction and infrastructure to modernize the country. The mechanization of agriculture also fed into this, as many people from rural regions flocked to cities in search of work. Many of the coal and iron deposits were located in Germany's west, particularly around the Rhine and Ruhr regions, and industry here benefitted from strong rail and water transport networks. Today, with over five million inhabitants, the Ruhr region is the most populous metropolitan area in the country, largely due to these developments. While Germany was among the most advanced nations in the world by the end of the 19th century, industrial output grew higher still in the 20th; between 1896 and 1913, industrial output in Germany doubled. Interwar turmoil After the First World War, Germany lost its resource rich territories of Alsace-Lorraine and the Saarland, while the Rhine and Ruhr regions were also occupied by France, and much of its industrial output was sent to other countries as war reparations. Hyperinflation in 1923 also saw the collapse of the German economy, and it was not until the late-1920s that economic recovery from the war truly began, although this was also short-lived. As Germany had been dependent on financial aid from the U.S. in order to recover and meet its reparation payments, the Great Depression in the U.S. had dire consequences for the German economy. From 1929 until 1932, industrial output fell once more, and many historians point to this economic difficulty as a catalyst for the rise of nationalism and fascism in Germany. The Nazi Party then ascended to power in 1933, the year the Depression ended, and the economy was restructured to support a war of expansion. Among other factors, this involved tax breaks for large businesses, allowing cartels to control local business, increasing average working hours, and prioritizing industrial employment by importing food from the east. The strength of Germany's industry then allowed the Axis powers to take control of most of Europe during the Second World War, but it was ultimately defeated by 1945. Post-war split Following the war, Germany was split into two separate states; commonly referred to as East and West Germany. The west was a liberal democracy with a free-market economy, while the east was a communist state with a command economy, yet both became leaders in their respective trading blocks during the Cold War. When looking at industrial growth over the next three decades, using output in 1963 as a benchmark, East Germany's output grew over nine times larger from 1949 to 1975, whereas West Germany's grew by a factor of six. It is important to remember, however, that the west was larger, more populous, and starting from a more industrially developed point than the east, therefore it was consistently more advanced. The West also had fewer restrictions placed on it from other nations after the war, and it played a leading role in European integration; whereas the East was influenced more heavily by the USSR and it had less trade with other advanced nations, which hindered its technological development. West Germany's output took a hit in the 1970s due to the 1973-1975 Recession, whereas the East's economy was protected as it had little trade with the U.S. and its partners. However, the West quickly recovered and economic stagnation in the East throughout the 1980s would contribute to the eventual collapse of the Eastern Bloc, and Germany was officially reunified in 1990.

The first half of the 20th century saw a dramatic shift in naval warfare and the types of ships that were used in conflict at sea. Changing nature of naval warfare In 1906, the HMS Dreadnought battleship revolutionized naval warfare, as it was steam powered, incredibly fast for its size, quickly built, and its primary battery of guns was mounted on the main deck. The HMS Dreadnought then inspired virtually all battleships that came after it, in what would become a naval arms race, but as technology advanced in the interwar period, some proposed that aircraft carriers should become the most important ships in the navy. While the attack on Pearl Harbor would highlight the effectiveness of naval air power, and battleships themselves were among the primary targets in the attack, it was not until 1942 at battles such as Midway or the Battle of the Coral Sea where the aircraft carrier established itself as the heart of the navy. Battleships, as well as cruisers or destroyers, largely played a supporting role for the remainder of the war, and (apart from two events) major naval battles became a thing of the past after WWII. Ascendancy of the U.S. Navy Another significant development of WWII was the emergence of the United States as the world's foremost naval power. During the war, the U.S. built almost 9,000 war vessels (not including landing vessels), which was more than three times the amount of all other powers combined. U.S. production capacity meant that it was able to continually produce and replace major vessels as the war waged on. In contrast, the Japanese did not have the ability to replace lost or damaged ships, which contributed to their eventual defeat in the Pacific. In Europe, the conflict was much more concentrated on land; however, the German Navy prioritized the production of submarines, which it used to great effect when attacking transatlantic shipping that supplied the UK - the Battle of the Atlantic would largely be settled by the end of 1943, with the Royal Navy and Commonwealth forces sinking over half of all German U-boats.