AI access, cost and use · Eastern Asia · Asia · data read 1 Oct 2026

China

In China, a $20-a-month AI plan costs 8.8% of the median living standard, 11 times the share it takes in the United States; for 42% of people it is over a tenth of what they live on. None of Claude, OpenAI's API or Gemini is officially offered. 92% of people use the internet.

8.8%of the median living standard for a $20 planAsia median 13% · United States 0.79%

42%of people for whom the plan is over a tenth of their living standardabout 594 m people

0of 3leading services officially offerednone listed

92%of people use the internetworld 74% · 1.41 bn people

The figuresChina

People1.41 bn

Median living standard$2,734a year per person · consumption

A $20 plan takes8.8%of that · 11× the US share

For whom it is over a tenth42%of people

Survey2022revalued at 2025 prices · rural and urban surveys combined by population

GNI per person$14,230plan is 1.7% of it

Claude use per personnot reported

Notable AI models built here189118 since 2023

Officially offered here0 of 3

Run it yourself →

Claude · claude.ai appNot listed

OpenAI · APINot listed

Gemini · web appNot listed

From each lab's own published list: Anthropic's Claude.ai countries, OpenAI's API countries and Google's Gemini web app countries. Not listed means not officially served; open-weight models can be run anywhere.

Against Asia and the worldregional figures are medians or population-weighted

Measure	China	Asia	World
A $20 plan ÷ median living standard	8.8%	13%	9.9%
People for whom it is over a tenth	42%	72%	63%
Plan price ÷ GNI per person	1.7%	3.9%	2.9%
People using the internet	92%	76%	74%
Claude use per working-age person	not reported	0.43×	1.00×
Notable AI models built	189	283	1,256

NeighboursEastern Asia · lightest burden first

Country	People	Online	$20 plan ÷ median living standard	Over a tenth	Claude use per person	Official lists
South Korea	52 m	98%	1.6%	1%	3.78×	3 of 3
Japan	123 m	86%	1.9%	3%	1.91×	3 of 3
China	1.41 bn	92%	8.8%	42%	not reported	0 of 3
Mongolia	3.6 m	85%	14%	72%	1.37×	3 of 3
North Korea	27 m	0%	no estimate	–	not reported	0 of 3
Hong Kong	7.5 m	96%	no estimate	–	not reported	1 of 3
Macao	686k	90%	no estimate	–	not reported	1 of 3

All countries →

The foundationsChina against the world

World Bank ↗

People using the internet

92%world 74%

People with electricity

100%world 92%

Mobile subscriptions per 100 people

132world 112

Fixed broadband lines per 100 people

47.2world 20.1

Enrolled in university-level education

77%world 44%

Research spending, share of GDP

2.58%world 2.6%

Researchers per million people

2,107world 1,652

Secure internet servers per million people

1,413world 16,381

The latest World Bank figure for each measure. The tick marks the world figure.

A $20-a-month plan ($240 a year, US list price) against the median household living standard per person in each country. The median is from the latest national household survey (World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform), revalued from 2021 purchasing-power dollars into US dollars at recent prices and official exchange rates, assuming real living standards have not changed since the survey. Some surveys measure income and others consumption, which includes food people grow and housing they own, so this is a living standard, not cash to spare. Countries with no survey since 2015 or no defensible exchange rate are left blank.

World Bank household surveys ↗Anthropic countries ↗OpenAI countries ↗Gemini countries ↗Anthropic Economic Index ↗Epoch AI notable models ↗