The United States punches above its weight, hosting nearly 60 percent of the world’s top 100 firms by market capitalization, despite accounting for just 4 percent of the global population. McKinsey’s Rebecca J. Anderson, Olivia White, Eric Kutcher, Kweilin Ellingrud, Shubham Singhal, Scott Blackburn, Arvind Govindarajan, Aly Spencer, and TJ Radigan note that while the country accounts for roughly a quarter of global GDP and R&D spending, maintaining its competitive edge will require sustained investment in technological depth and the development of an AI-fluent workforce as global competition intensifies.
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A bar chart shows the US share of global totals across 5 measures. The US has 4% of the world’s population but generates 26% of global GDP, accounts for 59% of the top 100 firms by market capitalization, 51% of notable AI models, and 27% of global R&D spending.
Note: This image description was completed with the assistance of Writer, a gen AI tool.
Source: World Bank; World Intellectual Property Organization; McKinsey Value Intelligence; Epoch AI, “Data on AI Models,” published online at epoch.ai, accessed February 2026; McKinsey Global Institute analysis.
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To read the report, see “At 250, sustaining America’s competitive edge,” March 9, 2026.