While headlines often focus on the private sector, the public industry quietly powers our world, from the 4.2 billion bus journeys in the UK and the 42,000 km of China’s high-speed rail to the 36.7 million patients treated in US public hospitals and the 4.2 trillion kWh of electricity generated by American public utilities.
Key Takeaways
- In 2022, the US public electric utilities industry generated 4,178 billion kWh of electricity, accounting for 99.8% of total US electricity generation from utility-scale facilities
- The UK's public water and sewerage sector supplied 16.2 billion cubic meters of water in 2021-22 while treating 15.8 billion cubic meters of wastewater
- In 2023, China's state-owned coal industry produced 4.66 billion metric tons of coal, representing 50.2% of global coal production
- US public rail freight moved 1.05 trillion ton-miles in 2022
- China's public high-speed rail network spanned 42,000 km in 2023, carrying 3.6 billion passengers
- EU public passenger air transport carried 683 million passengers in 2022
- In 2022, US public hospitals treated 36.7 million inpatient discharges with average stay of 4.6 days
- UK's NHS public healthcare system had 13.2 million inpatient admissions in 2022/23
- China's public hospitals numbered 36,500 with 7.5 billion outpatient visits in 2022
- In 2022, US public K-12 schools enrolled 49.6 million students with 3.2 million teachers
- UK's public schools educated 8.9 million pupils in 2022/23
- China's public education system had 292 million students from primary to tertiary in 2022
- In FY2022, US public defense budget was $877 billion, 13.1% of federal spending
- UK's public MOD expenditure was £52.6 billion in 2022/23
- China's public defense budget reached ¥1.55 trillion ($225 billion) in 2023
Public industries are vast and essential systems that underpin societies worldwide.
Defense Sector
- In FY2022, US public defense budget was $877 billion, 13.1% of federal spending
- UK's public MOD expenditure was £52.6 billion in 2022/23
- China's public defense budget reached ¥1.55 trillion ($225 billion) in 2023
- India's public defense allocation was ₹5.93 lakh crore ($71 billion) in FY2023-24
- France's public defense spending was €53.6 billion in 2023, 2% of GDP
- Germany's public Bundeswehr budget was €52 billion in 2022
- Russia's public defense expenditure was 6.2 trillion rubles ($84 billion) in 2022
- Saudi Arabia's public defense budget was $69 billion in 2022
- Japan's public defense outlay was ¥6.8 trillion ($51 billion) in FY2023
- Australia's public defense spending reached A$52.6 billion in 2022/23
- Italy's public defense budget was €26.1 billion in 2022
- Brazil's public defense allocation was R$133.7 billion in 2023
- Turkey's public defense spending was $15.8 billion in 2022
- South Korea's public defense budget was 57.1 trillion won ($44 billion) in 2023
- Canada's public defense expenditure was CAD$26.9 billion in 2022/23
- Spain's public defense budget was €12.5 billion in 2022
- Netherlands public defense spending was €14.5 billion in 2022
- Poland's public defense budget surged to 126 billion PLN ($32 billion) in 2023
Defense Sector Interpretation
The global ledger of paranoia shows a rather expensive consensus that, for all our talk of peace, we're still paying a premium for the rather old-fashioned belief that a big stick keeps the talking civilized.
Education Sector
- In 2022, US public K-12 schools enrolled 49.6 million students with 3.2 million teachers
- UK's public schools educated 8.9 million pupils in 2022/23
- China's public education system had 292 million students from primary to tertiary in 2022
- India's public schools enrolled 250 million students in 2021-22
- France's public education covered 12.3 million students with €140 billion budget in 2022
- Germany's public schools had 8.2 million pupils and 800,000 teachers in 2022
- Brazil's public education enrolled 47 million students in basic education 2022
- Japan's public schools had 10.3 million elementary and secondary students in 2022
- Australia's public schools educated 4 million students in 2022
- Canada's public K-12 enrolled 5.3 million students in 2021/22
- Italy's public education system served 8.7 million students in 2022/23
- Spain's public schools had 4.1 million primary students in 2022
- South Korea's public education had 5.8 million K-12 students in 2022
- Mexico's public SEP enrolled 25 million students in basic education 2022
- Sweden's public compulsory schools had 1 million students in 2022
- Poland's public schools educated 4.8 million students in 2022/23
Education Sector Interpretation
Around the globe, public education systems are wrestling with the same Herculean task: building future societies, one massive classroom at a time, whether it's for China's 292 million, India's 250 million, or America's 49.6 million students.
Energy Sector
- In 2022, the US public electric utilities industry generated 4,178 billion kWh of electricity, accounting for 99.8% of total US electricity generation from utility-scale facilities
- The UK's public water and sewerage sector supplied 16.2 billion cubic meters of water in 2021-22 while treating 15.8 billion cubic meters of wastewater
- In 2023, China's state-owned coal industry produced 4.66 billion metric tons of coal, representing 50.2% of global coal production
- EU public renewable energy sector capacity reached 344 GW in 2022, with wind power at 178 GW and solar at 132 GW contributing 22% of electricity
- India's public oil and gas sector, led by ONGC and GAIL, produced 30.5 million metric tons of crude oil in FY2022-23
- In 2021, Brazil's Petrobras public energy firm extracted 2.9 million barrels of oil equivalent per day
- Australia's public electricity generation from coal was 127 TWh in 2022, down 7% from prior year
- France's public nuclear power plants produced 280 TWh in 2022, 61% of national electricity
- Saudi Arabia's public Aramco produced 10.95 million barrels per day of oil in 2022
- Canada's public hydroelectric sector generated 379 TWh in 2022, 59% of total electricity
- Japan's public gas utilities distributed 94.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas in FY2022
- Germany's public energy transition invested €52 billion in renewables in 2022
- Mexico's public CFE generated 248 TWh in 2022, 70% from fossil fuels
- South Africa's Eskom public utility produced 208 TWh in FY2022/23
- Russia's Gazprom public gas exports to Europe fell to 100.9 bcm in 2022
- Norway's public hydropower output was 138 TWh in 2022, 88% of electricity
- Indonesia's public PLN distributed electricity to 85 million customers in 2022
- Turkey's public energy production reached 336 TWh in 2022
- Egypt's public gas production was 58.6 bcm in 2022
Energy Sector Interpretation
While America keeps the lights on, Britain flushes with pride, China digs its own (and the world's) grave, Europe builds a windy and sunny escape hatch, India pumps, Brazil siphons, Australia reluctantly weans, France splits atoms, Saudi Arabia taps the motherlode, Canada goes with the flow, Japan pipes up, Germany pays the piper, Mexico burns old habits, South Africa strains, Russia’s grip loosens, Norway rides the waterfall, Indonesia plugs in the masses, Turkey powers up, and Egypt turns up the gas—all proving that public industry is the messy, powerful, and essential engine room of our modern world.
Healthcare Sector
- In 2022, US public hospitals treated 36.7 million inpatient discharges with average stay of 4.6 days
- UK's NHS public healthcare system had 13.2 million inpatient admissions in 2022/23
- China's public hospitals numbered 36,500 with 7.5 billion outpatient visits in 2022
- India's public health sector vaccinated 2.2 billion COVID doses by 2023 via public system
- Canada's public Medicare covered 29 million people with 13 million hospital stays in 2021/22
- Australia's public Medicare funded 450 million services in 2022/23
- France's public health system reimbursed €252 billion in expenditures in 2022
- Germany's public health insurance covered 73 million with €300 billion spending in 2022
- Brazil's SUS public health served 190 million with 1 billion consultations in 2022
- Japan's public health insurance covered 126 million with 1.2 billion outpatient visits in 2022
- Italy's SSN public health had 6.8 million hospital admissions in 2022
- Spain's SNS public system performed 15 million surgeries in 2022
- South Korea's public health covered 97% population with 1.4 billion claims in 2022
- Mexico's IMSS public institute insured 60 million with 400 million consultations in 2022
- Sweden's public healthcare had 1.3 million inpatient days per 100,000 in 2022
- Netherlands public health expenditure was €112 billion or 10.2% GDP in 2022
- Norway's public hospitals treated 900,000 discharges in 2022
Healthcare Sector Interpretation
The sheer, dizzying scale of these numbers reveals a global truth: public healthcare systems, for all their varied struggles and quirks, form the colossal and often beleaguered backbone of modern civilization, quietly performing the herculean daily task of keeping entire populations upright.
Transportation Sector
- US public rail freight moved 1.05 trillion ton-miles in 2022
- China's public high-speed rail network spanned 42,000 km in 2023, carrying 3.6 billion passengers
- EU public passenger air transport carried 683 million passengers in 2022
- India's public Indian Railways transported 6.5 billion passengers and 1.4 billion tons freight in FY2022-23
- UK's public bus services provided 4.2 billion passenger journeys in 2022/23
- Japan's public Shinkansen bullet trains ran 370,000 services in 2022
- Brazil's public aviation handled 110 million passengers in 2022
- Australia's public road freight carried 300 billion tonne-km in 2021-22
- France's public SNCF rail network moved 1.2 billion passengers in 2022
- Saudi Arabia's public railways transported 5.2 million tons of freight in 2022
- Canada's public VIA Rail carried 4.1 million passengers in 2022/23
- South Korea's public KTX high-speed rail served 58 million passengers in 2022
- Mexico's public airports handled 118 million passengers in 2022
- Germany's public DB rail freight was 0.25 billion tons in 2022
- Italy's public highways managed 500 million vehicles in 2022
- Spain's public AVE high-speed rail covered 3,200 km, 25 million passengers in 2022
- Poland's public railways carried 250 million passengers in 2022
- Netherlands public Schiphol airport saw 61 million passengers in 2022
- Sweden's public SJ rail transported 32 million passengers in 2022
Transportation Sector Interpretation
From China's soaring billions to India's teeming billions and America's freight-heavy trillions, the world is running on public infrastructure, proving that while we might debate how to move society forward, we all agree the first step is to literally move it.
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