HEAD TO HEAD
China vs United Kingdom
Verdict
China holds a 78–22 advantage over United Kingdom on the Relative Advantage Index, a decisive margin.
The margin is driven by military spending (79% of the combined total, $336bn) and nuclear warheads (73% of the combined total, 600).
Factor by factor
| Factor | China | Share | United Kingdom | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Military spending SIPRI Milex | $336bn | 79%21% | $89.0bn | 25% |
Economic size (GDP) World Bank WDI | $18.7tn | 84%16% | $3.7tn | 20% |
Active personnel COW NMC | 2.0m | 93%7% | 150.0k | 15% |
Nuclear warheads FAS Nuclear Notebook | 600 | 73%27% | 225 | 25% |
Logistics & power projection OurAirports | 402 | 60%40% | 272 | 15% |
Shares are each side's portion of the combined total for that factor. Weights are renormalised across the factors both sides publish — see the methodology. Data read 2026-10-22.
