CO2 emissions (metric tons per capita) - Country Ranking

Definition: Carbon dioxide emissions are those stemming from the burning of fossil fuels and the manufacture of cement. They include carbon dioxide produced during consumption of solid, liquid, and gas fuels and gas flaring.

Source: Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center, Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Tennessee, United States.

See also: Thematic map, Time series comparison

Find indicator:
Rank Country Value Year
1 Qatar 32.42 2018
2 Kuwait 21.62 2018
3 United Arab Emirates 20.80 2018
4 Bahrain 19.59 2018
5 Brunei 16.64 2018
6 Palau 16.19 2018
7 Canada 15.50 2018
8 Australia 15.48 2018
9 Luxembourg 15.33 2018
10 Saudi Arabia 15.27 2018
11 United States 15.24 2018
12 Oman 15.19 2018
13 Trinidad and Tobago 12.78 2018
14 Turkmenistan 12.26 2018
15 Korea 12.23 2018
16 Estonia 12.10 2018
17 Kazakhstan 12.06 2018
18 Russia 11.13 2018
19 Czech Republic 9.64 2018
20 Libya 8.83 2018
21 Netherlands 8.77 2018
22 Japan 8.74 2018
23 Germany 8.56 2018
24 Singapore 8.40 2018
25 Poland 8.24 2018
26 Belgium 8.18 2018
27 Finland 8.04 2018
28 Iran 7.69 2018
29 Ireland 7.62 2018
30 Malaysia 7.60 2018
31 South Africa 7.50 2018
32 China 7.35 2018
33 Austria 7.15 2018
34 Norway 7.03 2018
35 Israel 6.98 2018
36 Bosnia and Herzegovina 6.78 2018
37 Slovenia 6.77 2018
38 Mongolia 6.73 2018
39 New Zealand 6.57 2018
40 Nauru 6.56 2018
41 Serbia 6.52 2018
42 Seychelles 6.41 2018
43 Belarus 6.28 2018
44 Iceland 6.24 2018
45 Greece 6.08 2018
46 Cyprus 6.08 2018
47 Slovak Republic 6.06 2018
48 Andorra 5.97 2018
49 The Bahamas 5.86 2018
50 Bulgaria 5.85 2018
51 Denmark 5.76 2018
52 Spain 5.52 2018
53 Antigua and Barbuda 5.50 2018
54 United Kingdom 5.40 2018
55 Italy 5.38 2018
56 Equatorial Guinea 5.10 2018
57 Turkey 5.02 2018
58 St. Kitts and Nevis 4.96 2018
59 Iraq 4.90 2018
60 Portugal 4.84 2018
61 Venezuela 4.78 2018
62 Hungary 4.75 2018
63 Chile 4.62 2018
64 France 4.62 2018
65 Switzerland 4.40 2018
66 Barbados 4.36 2018
67 Ukraine 4.15 2018
68 Lithuania 4.14 2018
69 Croatia 4.06 2018
70 Montenegro 4.05 2018
71 Lebanon 4.04 2018
72 Argentina 3.99 2018
73 Latvia 3.96 2018
74 Romania 3.85 2018
75 Mexico 3.74 2018
76 Thailand 3.71 2018
77 Liechtenstein 3.69 2018
78 Botswana 3.64 2018
79 Suriname 3.61 2018
80 Algeria 3.59 2018
81 North Macedonia 3.55 2018
82 Sweden 3.54 2018
83 Uzbekistan 3.40 2018
84 Mauritius 3.26 2018
85 Azerbaijan 3.22 2018
86 Malta 3.20 2018
87 Moldova 3.17 2018
88 Guyana 3.13 2018
89 Jamaica 2.90 2018
90 Vietnam 2.70 2018
91 Grenada 2.69 2018
92 Lao PDR 2.66 2018
93 Tunisia 2.59 2018
94 St. Vincent and the Grenadines 2.54 2018
95 Georgia 2.54 2018
96 Dominica 2.51 2018
97 Egypt 2.50 2018
98 Jordan 2.48 2018
99 Panama 2.43 2018
100 Dominican Republic 2.36 2018
101 Ecuador 2.31 2018
102 Cuba 2.20 2018
103 Indonesia 2.18 2018
104 Gabon 2.18 2018
105 Fiji 2.15 2018
106 St. Lucia 2.14 2018
107 Brazil 2.04 2018
108 Bolivia 2.00 2018
109 Albania 1.94 2018
110 Uruguay 1.89 2018
111 Armenia 1.88 2018
112 Morocco 1.85 2018
113 Tonga 1.84 2018
114 Bhutan 1.83 2018
115 India 1.80 2018
116 Belize 1.78 2018
117 Kyrgyz Republic 1.74 2018
118 Namibia 1.74 2018
119 Peru 1.70 2018
120 Costa Rica 1.65 2018
121 Syrian Arab Republic 1.65 2018
122 Samoa 1.63 2018
123 Colombia 1.60 2018
124 Philippines 1.33 2018
125 Lesotho 1.22 2018
126 Paraguay 1.21 2018
127 Cabo Verde 1.14 2018
128 Guatemala 1.11 2018
129 El Salvador 1.06 2018
130 Honduras 1.02 2018
131 Sri Lanka 1.00 2018
132 Pakistan 0.98 2018
133 Eswatini 0.96 2018
134 Mauritania 0.91 2018
135 Angola 0.89 2018
136 Tuvalu 0.87 2018
137 Papua New Guinea 0.87 2018
138 Zimbabwe 0.85 2018
139 Nicaragua 0.81 2018
140 Tajikistan 0.81 2018
141 Dem. People's Rep. Korea 0.71 2018
142 Kiribati 0.69 2018
143 Benin 0.69 2018
144 Cambodia 0.69 2018
145 Nigeria 0.67 2018
146 São Tomé and Principe 0.66 2018
147 Senegal 0.62 2018
148 Vanuatu 0.62 2018
149 Congo 0.61 2018
150 Myanmar 0.61 2018
151 Solomon Islands 0.57 2018
152 Ghana 0.54 2018
153 Bangladesh 0.51 2018
154 Djibouti 0.51 2018
155 Timor-Leste 0.50 2018
156 Sudan 0.48 2018
157 Zambia 0.45 2018
158 Nepal 0.43 2018
159 Côte d'Ivoire 0.40 2018
160 Kenya 0.36 2018
161 Cameroon 0.34 2018
162 Yemen 0.33 2018
163 Comoros 0.31 2018
164 Haiti 0.30 2018
165 Mali 0.29 2018
166 Togo 0.29 2018
167 Liberia 0.27 2018
168 Guinea 0.25 2018
169 The Gambia 0.25 2018
170 Eritrea 0.23 2018
171 Mozambique 0.23 2018
172 Burkina Faso 0.22 2018
173 Tanzania 0.21 2018
174 Afghanistan 0.20 2018
175 Guinea-Bissau 0.17 2018
176 Ethiopia 0.15 2018
177 Uganda 0.14 2018
178 Sierra Leone 0.13 2018
179 Madagascar 0.13 2018
180 Niger 0.10 2018
181 Rwanda 0.09 2018
182 Malawi 0.09 2018
183 Central African Republic 0.07 2018
184 Chad 0.07 2018
185 Burundi 0.05 2018
186 Somalia 0.05 2018
187 Dem. Rep. Congo 0.03 2018

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Development Relevance: Carbon dioxide (CO2) is naturally occurring gas fixed by photosynthesis into organic matter. A byproduct of fossil fuel combustion and biomass burning, it is also emitted from land use changes and other industrial processes. It is the principal anthropogenic greenhouse gas that affects the Earth's radiative balance. It is the reference gas against which other greenhouse gases are measured, thus having a Global Warming Potential of 1. Burning of carbon-based fuels since the industrial revolution has rapidly increased concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide, increasing the rate of global warming and causing anthropogenic climate change. It is also a major source of ocean acidification since it dissolves in water to form carbonic acid. The addition of man-made greenhouse gases to the Atmosphere disturbs the earth's radiative balance. This is leading to an increase in the earth's surface temperature and to related effects on climate, sea level rise and world agriculture. Emissions of CO2 are from burning oil, coal and gas for energy use, burning wood and waste materials, and from industrial processes such as cement production. The carbon dioxide emissions of a country are only an indicator of one greenhouse gas. For a more complete idea of how a country influences climate change, gases such as methane and nitrous oxide should be taken into account. This is particularly important in agricultural economies. Emission intensity is the average emission rate of a given pollutant from a given source relative to the intensity of a specific activity. Emission intensities are also used to compare the environmental impact of different fuels or activities. The related terms - emission factor and carbon intensity - are often used interchangeably. The environmental effects of carbon dioxide are of significant interest. Carbon dioxide (CO2) makes up the largest share of the greenhouse gases contributing to global warming and climate change. Converting all other greenhouse gases (methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), sulphur hexafluoride (SF6)) to carbon dioxide (or CO2) equivalents makes it possible to compare them and to determine their individual and total contributions to global warming. The Kyoto Protocol, an environmental agreement adopted in 1997 by many of the parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), is working towards curbing CO2 emissions globally.

Limitations and Exceptions: The U.S. Department of Energy's Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center (CDIAC) calculates annual anthropogenic emissions from data on fossil fuel consumption (from the United Nations Statistics Division's World Energy Data Set) and world cement manufacturing (from the U.S. Department of Interior's Geological Survey, USGS 2011). Although estimates of global carbon dioxide emissions are probably accurate within 10 percent (as calculated from global average fuel chemistry and use), country estimates may have larger error bounds. Trends estimated from a consistent time series tend to be more accurate than individual values. Each year the CDIAC recalculates the entire time series since 1949, incorporating recent findings and corrections. Estimates exclude fuels supplied to ships and aircraft in international transport because of the difficulty of apportioning the fuels among benefiting countries.

Statistical Concept and Methodology: Carbon dioxide emissions, largely by-products of energy production and use, account for the largest share of greenhouse gases, which are associated with global warming. Anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions result primarily from fossil fuel combustion and cement manufacturing. In combustion different fossil fuels release different amounts of carbon dioxide for the same level of energy use: oil releases about 50 percent more carbon dioxide than natural gas, and coal releases about twice as much. Cement manufacturing releases about half a metric ton of carbon dioxide for each metric ton of cement produced. Data for carbon dioxide emissions include gases from the burning of fossil fuels and cement manufacture, but excludes emissions from land use such as deforestation.

Aggregation method: Weighted average

Periodicity: Annual