February 16, 2005: China Replacing the United States as World's Leading Consumer DATA - Grain Meat Oil Coal Steel Fertilizer Personal Computers Cellular Phones Automobiles Television Sets Refrigerators

Annual Consumption and Use of Key Resources and Consumer Products in the United States and China, Latest Year
(Click on the Commodity name for a graph and data set of the trend over time.)

Commodity	Unit	China	United States

Grain (1)	Million Tons	382	278
Meat (1)	Million Tons	63	37

Oil (1)	Million Barrels per Day	7	20
Coal (2)	Million Tons of Oil Equivalent	800	574
Steel (2)	Million Tons	258	104
Fertilizer (2)	Million Tons	40	20

Cellular Phones (2)	Million in Use	269	159
Television Sets (3)	Million in Use	374	243
Refrigerators (4)	Million Produced	14	12
Personal Computers (5)	Million in Use	36	190
Automobiles (2)	Million in Use	24	226


(1) Data for 2004.
(2) Data for 2003.
(3) Data for 2000.
(4) Data for 2001.
(5) Data for 2002.
Source: Compiled by Earth Policy Institute, February 2005, from USDA, IFA, DOE, BP, IISI, ITU, UN, and Ward's. For detailed data over time and full sources see tables below.

Grain Consumption in China and the United States, 1960-2004

Year	China	United States
	Million Tons

1960	102	139
1961	93	141
1962	98	139
1963	112	136
1964	130	134
1965	136	150
1966	141	150
1967	145	151
1968	142	159
1969	146	166
1970	156	164
1971	167	176
1972	167	182
1973	181	178
1974	186	136
1975	195	155
1976	202	154
1977	207	162
1978	211	180
1979	236	185
1980	254	172
1981	260	179
1982	263	195
1983	271	183
1984	280	198
1985	285	201
1986	290	216
1987	299	217
1988	305	187
1989	312	203
1990	322	219
1991	330	219
1992	335	232
1993	343	223
1994	350	245
1995	353	215
1996	361	243
1997	363	244
1998	369	246
1999	372	251
2000	375	255
2001	376	253
2002	376	249
2003	380	262
2004	382	278

Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Production, Supply, and Distribution, electronic database, at www.fas.usda.gov/psd, updated 13 January 2005.

Fertilizer Use in China and the United States, 1950-2003

Year	China	United States
	Million Tons

1950	0.0	4.2
1951	0.0	4.7
1952	0.1	5.1
1953	0.1	5.4
1954	0.1	5.6
1955	0.2	5.5
1956	0.3	5.8
1957	0.4	5.9
1958	0.5	6.7
1959	0.5	6.8
1960	0.7	6.8
1961	0.4	7.6
1962	0.6	8.4
1963	1.0	9.2
1964	1.3	10.0
1965	2.7	11.3
1966	2.7	12.0
1967	5.0	12.7
1968	2.7	13.6
1969	3.5	14.1
1970	3.6	14.6
1971	4.2	15.5
1972	5.1	15.6
1973	5.1	16.3
1974	4.9	17.5
1975	5.4	15.9
1976	5.8	18.9
1977	6.5	20.1
1978	8.8	18.7
1979	10.9	20.5
1980	12.7	20.9
1981	13.3	21.5
1982	15.1	19.4
1983	16.6	16.4
1984	17.4	19.8
1985	17.8	19.7
1986	19.3	17.8
1987	20.0	17.3
1988	21.4	17.8
1989	23.6	18.7
1990	26.1	18.4
1991	26.5	18.6
1992	26.2	18.3
1993	28.8	19.0
1994	24.6	20.4
1995	28.3	19.3
1996	33.8	19.9
1997	35.5	20.3
1998	35.2	20.2
1999	34.5	18.9
2000	34.4	18.8
2001	35.9	19.6
2002	38.5	19.5
2003	39.8	19.7
2004 (est.)	41.2	19.2

Source: International Fertilizer Industry Association (IFA), Fertilizer Consumption 2003/04-2004/05, Country Reports, paper prepared for the 30th IFA Enlarged Council Meeting, Santiago, Chile, 1-3 December 2004; Patrick Heffer, Short Term Prospects for World Agriculture and Fertilizer Demand 2002/03 – 2003/04 (Paris: IFA, December 2003), and from IFA Secretariat and IFA Fertilizer Demand Working Group, Fertilizer Consumption Report (Brussels: December 2001), with historical data from Worldwatch Institute, Signposts 2001, CD-Rom (Washington, DC: 2001), compiled from IFA and FAO, Fertilizer Yearbook (Rome: various years).


Meat Consumption in China and the United States, 1960-2004

Year	China	United States
	Million Tons

1960	0	14
1961	0	14
1962	0	14
1963	0	14
1964	0	15
1965	0	15
1966	0	19
1967	0	20
1968	0	21
1969	0	21
1970	0	22
1971	0	23
1972	0	23
1973	0	21
1974	0	23
1975	7	22
1976	7	24
1977	7	24
1978	8	24
1979	10	24
1980	11	25
1981	12	25
1982	13	24
1983	13	25
1984	15	26
1985	17	26
1986	18	27
1987	20	27
1988	23	28
1989	24	28
1990	26	28
1991	29	29
1992	31	30
1993	35	30
1994	41	31
1995	48	31
1996	44	32
1997	48	32
1998	52	33
1999	54	34
2000	55	35
2001	56	35
2002	59	36
2003	61	36
2004	63	37
2005	64	38

Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Production, Supply, and Distribution, electronic database, at www.fas.usda.gov/psd, updated October 2004.

Oil Consumption in China and the United States, 1960-2004

Year	China	United States
	Million Barrels per Day

1960	0.2	9.8
1961	0.2	10.0
1962	0.1	10.4
1963	0.2	10.7
1964	0.2	11.0
1965	0.2	11.5
1966	0.3	12.1
1967	0.3	12.6
1968	0.3	13.4
1969	0.4	14.1
1970	0.6	14.7
1971	0.8	15.2
1972	0.9	16.4
1973	1.1	17.3
1974	1.2	16.7
1975	1.4	16.3
1976	1.5	17.5
1977	1.6	18.4
1978	1.8	18.9
1979	1.8	18.5
1980	1.8	17.1
1981	1.7	16.1
1982	1.7	15.3
1983	1.7	15.2
1984	1.7	15.7
1985	1.9	15.7
1986	2.0	16.3
1987	2.1	16.7
1988	2.3	17.3
1989	2.4	17.3
1990	2.3	17.0
1991	2.5	16.7
1992	2.7	17.0
1993	3.0	17.2
1994	3.2	17.7
1995	3.4	17.7
1996	3.6	18.3
1997	3.9	18.6
1998	4.1	18.9
1999	4.4	19.5
2000	4.8	19.7
2001	4.9	19.6
2002	5.2	19.8
2003	5.6	20.0
2004 *	6.5	20.4


* Annual average based on first three quarters

.Source: U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration, “World Oil Demand,” International Petroleum Monthly, December 2004.


Coal Consumption in China and the United States, 1965-2003

Year	China	United States

	Million Tons of Oil Equivalent

1965	166	298
1966	181	314
1967	126	308
1968	166	321
1969	177	327
1970	197	330
1971	213	316
1972	217	317
1973	228	324
1974	240	317
1975	251	317
1976	263	340
1977	276	348
1978	296	344
1979	328	376
1980	314	386
1981	310	398
1982	333	383
1983	357	397
1984	395	430
1985	437	441
1986	446	435
1987	460	454
1988	485	475
1989	523	480
1990	534	484
1991	535	479
1992	550	482
1993	570	500
1994	606	502
1995	672	506
1996	682	529
1997	682	540
1998	608	546
1999	492	545
2000	455	569
2001	518	552
2002	694	559
2003	800	574


Source: BP, Statistical Review of World Energy 2004 (London: Group Media & Publishing, June 2004).


Steel Consumption in the United States and China, 1990-2003

Year	China	United States
	Million Tons

1990	53	87
1991	56	78
1992	70	84
1993	106	91
1994	122	117
1995	101	113
1996	112	119
1997	115	124
1998	123	135
1999	136	127
2000	138	133
2001	170	114
2002	206	118
2003	258	104


Source: International Iron and Steel Institute, Steel Statistical Yearbook 2004 (Brussels, 2004); 1990-1993 from Phil Hunt, Iron and Steel Statistics Bureau (ISSB), e-mail to Viviana Jimenez, Earth Policy Institute, 24 January 2005.


Cellular Phone Subscribers in China and the United States, 1980-2003

Year	China	United States
	Million

1980	0	0
1981	0	0
1982	0	0
1983	0	0
1984	0	0
1985	0	0
1986	0	1
1987	0	1
1988	0	2
1989	0	4
1990	0	5
1991	0	8
1992	0	11
1993	1	16
1994	2	24
1995	4	34
1996	7	44
1997	13	55
1998	24	69
1999	43	86
2000	85	109
2001	145	128
2002	207	141
2003	269	159

Source: International Telecommunication Union, Telecommunication Statistics, at www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict/statistics/at_glance/cellular03.pdf, 10 May 2004.


Refrigerator Production in China and the United States, 1970-2001

Year	China	United States
	Million

1970	0	5
1971	0	6
1972	0	6
1973	0	7
1974	0	6
1975	0	5
1976	0	5
1977	0	6
1978	0	6
1979	0	6
1980	0	5
1981	0	5
1982	0	5
1983	0	6
1984	1	6
1985	1	6
1986	2	7
1987	4	7
1988	8	8
1989	7	8
1990	5	7
1991	5	8
1992	5	10
1993	6	10
1994	8	11
1995	9	11
1996	10	11
1997	10	12
1998	11	11
1999	12	12
2000	13	12
2001	14	12


Source: United Nations, UNStats Statistics Database, at unstats.un.org/unsd, viewed 14 February 2005.


Television Sets in the United States and China, 1980,1985,1990-2000

Year	China	United States
	Million

1980	9	156
...	...	...
1985	70	190
...	...	...
1990	309	203
1991	320	206
1992	340	208
1993	350	211
1994	370	213
1995	300	217
1996	321	223
1997	340	229
1998	360	231
1999	370	233
2000	374	243

Source: United Nations, UNStats Statistics Database, at unstats.un.org/unsd, viewed 14 February 2005.

Personal Computers in China and the United States, 1981-2002

Year	China	United States
	Million

1981	0	2
1982	0	6
1983	0	12
1984	0	19
1985	0	25
1986	0	31
1987	0	38
1988	0	45
1989	0	49
1990	1	54
1991	1	59
1992	1	65
1993	1	70
1994	2	78
1995	3	86
1996	5	97
1997	8	109
1998	11	124
1999	16	141
2000	21	161
2001	25	178
2002	36	190

Source: International Telecommuniation Union, Telecommunication Statistics, at www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict/statistics/at_glance/internet03.pdf, 10 May 2004.

Vehicle Fleets in China and the United States, 2000-2003

Year	China	United States

	Million

1980	0.5	177
1981	1.8	181
1982	2.0	184
1983	2.2	189
1984	2.4	191
1985	3.0	193
1986	3.4	192
1987	3.9	194
1988	4.5	194
1989	4.9	198
1990	5.3	194
1991	5.8	193
1992	6.7	196
1993	7.9	195
1994	9.1	198
1995	10.0	201
1996	10.6	206
1997	11.8	208
1998	12.8	212
1999	n/a	216
2000	13.4	213
2001	14.5	217
2002	15.5	221
2003	24.0	226

Source: Ward’s World Motor Vehicle Data (Southfield, MI: Ward’s Communications, 2004); 1980-1999 from United Nations, UNStats Statistics Database, at unstats.un.org/unsd, viewed 14 February 2005.