购买力=Purchasing power
消费能力=Spending power
What is the difference between these two words in Chinese?
Basically, I don't think there is much difference between these two words. Most Chinese rarely use these two words. As for the difference between these two words, perhaps even the Chinese may not be clear.
However, if Chinese people who have studied economics, they will use English to make the expression more accurate. Because these two words originally come from English.
If you have to make a difference:
- Purchasing power is relative to commodities.
- Consumption power is relative to people.
This is my understanding.
Why is the difference not big?
Because in Chinese, you can guess the meaning as long as you see the Chinese characters. If you understand it literally, these two words seem to ask "how much can you buy". The ability about "how much can you buy".
Tips:
有人说，消费能力应该翻译成Consumption power，乍一听，感觉好像没问题，但是这种翻译是先翻译了“消费”，然后再翻译了能力。
这种翻译方式是有问题的。
我们一般说Spending power或Consumption capacity，没有听说过Consumption power的，所以这里最佳的翻译还是Spending power。
别太在意，这本来就不是中文原生词汇，所以直接用英语表达是最好的。