About one in six Americans (16%) say the U.S. is No. 1 in the world economically, rather than just one of several leading economic powers. They are much more likely to view it as the No. 1 military power (51%), a consistent pattern in Gallup’s trend dating back to 1993…

Perceptions of the U.S. military as the leading global power have fluctuated over recent decades, between 49% and 64%, averaging 56%. The current figure is down seven percentage points from the prior measure in 2020. This decline could be at least partly influenced by the U.S. military’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan last summer.

In contrast, most Americans have consistently viewed the U.S. as being one of multiple global economic powerhouses — rather than the No. 1 economic power — over this same period. While the latest 16% is, by one point, the lowest in the trend, it is statistically similar to the previous lows of 17% recorded in 2010 and 2015. Americans were more than twice as likely as they are now to view their country as the economic leader in 1999 and 2000, during the dot-com boom.