There are some amazing roller coasters throughout the globe, so I wouldn’t say that the U.S. is home to the best especially without experiencing any of them myself. But in terms of sheer numbers, the United States has the second most roller coasters of any country in the World.
Here’s a table showing the top five countries by roller coasters; updated in 2017:
| Country | Steel | Wood | Combined |
|---|---|---|---|
| China | 1119 | 12 | 1131 |
| United States | 624 | 117 | 741 |
| Japan | 209 | 4 | 213 |
| Germany | 204 | 4 | 208 |
| United Kingdom | 170 | 10 | 180 |
Source – Roller Coaster Database
China’s Roller Coaster Boom?
I’ve been following the growth of the larger parks and really cool new coasters like Dualing Dragons (with its high five element) and Crystal Wings. Obviously, China is a massive country, with a booming economy, but I still have to admit that I was surprised that the number of roller coasters in China had increased so much since I first wrote this post in 2009. I also wonder if there were more coasters in the past, but they were just not included in the RCDB until more recently. Some of the data for the Chinese rides is a bit vague giving opening dates with ranges.
Check out this POV video of Dauling Dragons at Happy Valley in Wuhan, Hubei, China:
Still with our second place ranking, I still argue we have the best selection and biggest variety of coasters anywhere on the planet.