CO2 emissions (kt) - Country Ranking - Asia

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 China 10,313,460.00 2018
2 India 2,434,520.00 2018
3 Russia 1,607,550.00 2018
4 Japan 1,106,150.00 2018
5 Korea 630,870.00 2018
6 Iran 629,290.00 2018
7 Indonesia 583,110.00 2018
8 Saudi Arabia 514,600.00 2018
9 Turkey 412,970.00 2018
10 Thailand 257,860.00 2018
10 Vietnam 257,860.00 2018
12 Malaysia 239,620.00 2018
13 Kazakhstan 220,450.00 2018
14 Pakistan 208,370.00 2018
15 United Arab Emirates 200,300.00 2018
16 Iraq 188,140.00 2018
17 Philippines 142,240.00 2018
18 Uzbekistan 112,090.00 2018
19 Qatar 90,170.00 2018
20 Kuwait 89,460.00 2018
21 Bangladesh 82,760.00 2018
22 Oman 73,370.00 2018
23 Turkmenistan 71,730.00 2018
24 Israel 61,970.00 2018
25 Singapore 47,360.00 2018
26 Myanmar 32,520.00 2018
27 Azerbaijan 32,020.00 2018
28 Bahrain 30,750.00 2018
29 Syrian Arab Republic 27,910.00 2018
30 Lebanon 27,710.00 2018
31 Jordan 24,700.00 2018
32 Sri Lanka 21,630.00 2018
33 Mongolia 21,320.00 2018
34 Lao PDR 18,790.00 2018
35 Dem. People's Rep. Korea 18,120.00 2018
36 Nepal 12,030.00 2018
37 Cambodia 11,160.00 2018
38 Kyrgyz Republic 11,000.00 2018
39 Georgia 9,460.00 2018
40 Yemen 9,310.00 2018
41 Afghanistan 7,440.00 2018
42 Tajikistan 7,330.00 2018
43 Brunei 7,140.00 2018
44 Armenia 5,550.00 2018
45 Bhutan 1,380.00 2018
46 Timor-Leste 640.00 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. 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 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. 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. The unit of measurement is kt (kiloton). Carbon dioxide emissions are often calculated and reported as elemental carbon. The were converted to actual carbon dioxide mass by multiplying them by 3.667 (the ratio of the mass of carbon to that of carbon dioxide).

Aggregation method: Gap-filled total

Periodicity: Annual