America may be losing ground in some areas to emerging superpowers such as China and India, but the US is still number one in everything from military spending to beef production. Click or scroll through 25 things America does better than any other country in the world.

The mighty US dollar has been the unofficial world currency since 1944, when the historic Bretton Woods Agreement pegged all currencies to the greenback, backed by the world’s largest gold reserves. These days, an estimated 61% of the world's foreign banks have their currency reserves in US dollars, and 40% of the world’s debt is denominated in US bills.

When it comes to defence spending, America eclipses every other country, and then some. The annual US military budget stood at a jaw-dropping $732 billion (£590bn) in 2019, which represented 38% of global spend. That was a 5.3% rise on America's spending in 2018, and the increase alone was the equivalent of Germany's entire military budget in 2019.

America is also the world's biggest exporter of weapons by a long shot, accounting for 36% of global arms exports and between 2015 and 2019 it sold 76% more than Russia, the world's second biggest exporter of weapons. Among the 96 nations that buy military hardware from America, Saudi Arabia is the biggest spender.

In monetary terms, America dominates the field of medical research. The US spends more than any country in the world on medical R&D, with total expenditure hitting $543 billion (£437bn) in 2017 – the most recent year of data available – and American researchers publish the lion's share of science papers. Although in terms of percentage of GDP, Israel and South Korea spend the most on medical research. 

Both per capita and in total, the US spends more money on healthcare than any other country. On average more than $10,000 (£8.1k) is spent per head in America according to OECD data. That is an enormous sum, although there are questions as to whether the healthcare system is good value, or even among the best in the world. 

Now find out the countries that have the best value healthcare in the world today

Switzerland may top the latest Global Innovation Index, and China is certainly gaining ground, but the US remains the world leader in technology. The US has given the planet the microchip, the personal computer, Facebook and other social networking sites such as Twitter and Instagram, and American companies continue to dominate the global tech industry.

Years of public and private investment and research have put the US leagues ahead of other countries in the artificial intelligence (AI) race. Rival countries may be vying for a piece of the AI pie – in 2017 China announced plans to be the world number one by 2025 – but in Feburary 2019 President Trump signed an Executive Order launching the American AI Initiative, demonstrating that the US wants to be at the forefront of artificial intelligence across the globe.

The US is also ahead of its rivals in another futuristic technology: robotics. A study published in 2017 by the Centre for Economic and Business Research (CEBR) reported that the US has invested $732 billion (£592bn) in automation stocks, which is more than any other nation.

Americans are the world's top media consumers, from newspapers and magazines to TV, radio and the internet. According to research from PwC, the US media market was worth a staggering $678 billion (£544bn) in 2018, nearly a third of the global $2.1 trillion (£1.7tn) media market at that time. By the end of 2020 the US market has been predicted to grow to $720 billion (£578bn).

While India's Bollywood is the world's largest movie industry in terms of the number of films produced and tickets sold, the world’s oldest – America's Hollywood – leads the way in terms of box office receipts. It totalled $11.45 billion (£9.2bn) in 2019, which is more than a quarter of the $42.5 billion (£34.3bn) made globally. It is arguably also the biggest industry in terms of international cultural influence.

The US is home to the highest number of billionaires on the planet. According to Forbes, America boasts a total of 614 billionaire residents, including Jeff Bezos (pictured), who is the current richest person in the world and is on track to be the world’s first trillionaire in 2026. China is second on the list with 389 billionaires, while Germany, with 107 billionaires, comes third.

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Founded on Wall Street in 1817, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) was by no means the first of its kind, but in the last 200 years it has grown to be the largest in the world in terms of market value. The NYSE had over $25 trillion (£20.2tn) worth of equity in play as of March this year and its value exceeds that of the next three biggest – the NASDAQ, London Stock Exchange, and Tokyo Stock Exchange – combined. 

The USA is the world leader in space exploration, aerospace and aviation, hands down. The nation reaffirmed its top spot with the recent SpaceX rocket launch, which was the first ever commercialised space flight. In addition to pioneering space travel, the US leads the planet in aircraft engines and parts, jets, helicopters and more.

The new space race revealed

America's sporting prowess is second to none, particularly in the Olympic arena. The US has hosted eight Olympics Games, more than any other country, and the nation's athletes have won the most medals, which total 2,520. The country’s medal success is only likely to climb as athletes target the 2028 Summer Games, which are due to be hosted in Los Angeles.

America is home to Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the planet's best university, and US higher education institutions, which are renowned the world over, take the first three spots on the QS World University Rankings list for 2020. That prestige comes at a price though, as those same universities also take the top spots for the world’s most expensive places to study. 

Over the last decade the US has come out on top in terms of charitable giving, according to the CAF World Giving Index. Americans are the most generous people on the planet, and in 2018 they gave away a huge $427.71 billion (£345bn) according to Giving USA. YouGov found that 39% of charitable donations went to human services charities, while religion (32%) came in second, and health (26%) was Americans’ third favourite charity of choice.

A nation of animal lovers, the US has the highest number of pet dogs and cats in the world, with a total of 69.9 million pooches and 74.1 million moggies. China comes a not-so-close second with 27.4 million dogs and 53.1 million cats.

The US is the land of the automobile, so it's hardly surprising the nation has the largest road network on the planet. All in all, America's roads span no less than 4.09 million miles. The country also boasts half of the world’s longest driveable road, the Pan-American Highway (pictured), which starts in Alaska and stretches 29,800 miles down to Chile and Argentina.

America is the world's leading producer of beef. The country is responsible for just under 20% of total global beef production, which translated to around 12.7 million tonnes of beef and veal in 2019. The industry was worth a staggering $6.2 billion (£5bn) in 2017.

European countries may have countless varieties, but the US produces more cheese than any other nation in the world. The country churns out nearly six million tonnes of cheese annually, mainly in Wisconsin. In 2018, the average American consumed 40 pounds of cheese – natural cheese was the most popular form of the dairy product, and it brought in a total of $12.9 billion (£10.4bn).

America overtook Russia in 2009 to become the world's number one natural gas producer. In 2018, production in the US reached a record 30.6 trillion cubic feet, and Texas and Pennsylvania lead the way by drilling 22% and 20% of the country’s total gas respectively. In 2015, the industry employed some 1.39 million Americans.

After competing with the likes of Russia and Saudi Arabia for many years, the US is now the world’s leading producer of oil. A fracking boom caused the US oil production rate to hit 17.9 million barrels per day before coronavirus hit, although current market volatility will likely have put a pause on those numbers until the pandemic has passed.

The US is the world's leading producer of nuclear power and the country accounts for over 30% of the world’s demand for nuclear-generated electricity. In 2019, America's reactors generated 809 billion kilowatts of electricity, and another two reactors are in the making. The industry is estimated to be worth $37.2 billion (£30bn) in 2020 and provides almost 100,000 jobs.

The US is the plastic surgery capital of the world. In 2018, Americans spent a staggering $16.5 billion (£13.3bn) on cosmetic surgeries and minimally invasive treatments. In total, 17.7 million treatments were carried out that year, more than in any other country, and breast augmentation and tummy tucks were the most asked-for procedures. During the coronavirus pandemic, some forms of treatment are even available in drive-thru form in Florida.

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America introduced the world to everything from the burger to the hot dog, and seven of the 10 largest fast food chains on the planet hail from the US. Individually the average American spends $1,200 (£960) on fast food in a year, which totals $50 billion (£40.4bn) spent each year as a nation.

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