Metric guide
CO2 emissions by country: total emissions tell one story.
Territorial CO2 emissions measure emissions produced within a country’s borders. Total emissions are useful for understanding scale, but they do not answer every climate comparison question.
Per-person emissions, cumulative historical emissions and consumption-based emissions can each tell a different story. Compare Countries starts with the country-level totals currently available in the data catalog.
Top countries in the current snapshot
Total CO2 emissions rankings emphasize industrial and population scale. For responsibility or intensity questions, compare this with per-person or historical emissions where available.
| Rank | Country | Value | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | People's Republic of China | 12,716 Mt CO₂ | 2024 |
| 2 | United States of America | 4,782 Mt CO₂ | 2024 |
| 3 | India | 2,872 Mt CO₂ | 2024 |
| 4 | Russia | 1,952 Mt CO₂ | 2024 |
| 5 | Japan | 941 Mt CO₂ | 2024 |
| 6 | Indonesia | 887 Mt CO₂ | 2024 |
| 7 | Iran | 776 Mt CO₂ | 2024 |
| 8 | Saudi Arabia | 677 Mt CO₂ | 2024 |
| 9 | South Korea | 644 Mt CO₂ | 2024 |
| 10 | Canada | 601 Mt CO₂ | 2024 |
| 11 | Germany | 576 Mt CO₂ | 2024 |
| 12 | Brazil | 559 Mt CO₂ | 2024 |
What this metric is useful for
- Compare national territorial emissions totals.
- Build group totals for regions or country blocs.
- Switch to per-person metrics where available to compare intensity rather than total scale.
Things to keep in mind
- Territorial emissions do not assign emissions embedded in traded goods to final consumers.
- Large populations and large industrial systems can dominate totals.
- Reference years can differ from other economic or population metrics.
Open this metric on the map
Open the live map with Territorial CO2 emissions selected. You can then click countries, search for groups, drag countries between comparison groups, or switch to a related metric without losing the context of the map.
Source and coverage
Source: International Energy Statistics. Coverage in this snapshot: 212 countries out of 242. Reference year: 2024.
International oil, gas and electricity production. Reuse note: EIA U.S. government data and information products are public domain. Retain source/date acknowledgement and do not reuse EIA logos or protected third-party material.