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Carbon Footprint by Country: CO₂ Emissions in 2024

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Carbon Footprint by Country: CO₂ Emissions in 2024

CO2 emissions by country dataset from the Global Carbon Budget 2025: the world emitted 38.6 billion tonnes of fossil CO2 in 2024. China is the largest emitter at 12.3 billion tonnes, 32% of the world. The world average is 4.7 tonnes per person, against 14.2 in the United States and 2.2 in India. Consumption-based footprints for 2023 cover 120 countries. Data flows from the Global Carbon Project through the GreenCalculus MasterBrain and REST API to a table of 214 countries. — MB v2026.248 · updated 7 Oct 2026

The world released 38.6 billion tonnes of fossil CO₂ in 2024. Three countries account for more than half of it, but the ranking changes completely when you divide by population, and changes again when you count the CO₂ in the goods a country imports. This page gives all three views for 214 countries, from the Global Carbon Project’s 2025 data, with a table you can sort and filter.

Quick answer

China has the largest carbon footprint: 12,289 million tonnes of fossil CO₂ in 2024, 31.84% of the world total. The United States is second (4,904 Mt) and India third (3,193 Mt). Per person, the world average is 4.7 tonnes; an American emits 14.2 t, a Chinese resident 8.7 t and an Indian resident 2.2 t. The highest per-person figure is Qatar at 41.3 t.

The largest emitters

Ranked by the CO₂ released inside each country’s borders in 2024 (the “territorial” total that national inventories report). The top ten countries emit 69% of the world total.

Top 20 countries by fossil CO₂ emissions, 2024 — million tonnes CO₂ (Mt), Global Carbon Budget 2025
Rank	Country	Mt CO₂	Share of world	t per person	Change since 2015
1	China	12,289.0	31.84%	8.66	+24.7%
2	United States	4,904.1	12.71%	14.20	−8.7%
3	India	3,193.5	8.27%	2.20	+43.1%
4	Russia	1,780.5	4.61%	12.29	+8.9%
5	Japan	961.9	2.49%	7.77	−21.2%
6	Indonesia	812.2	2.10%	2.87	+47.4%
7	Iran	792.6	2.05%	8.66	+23.5%
8	Saudi Arabia	692.1	1.79%	20.38	+10.8%
9	South Korea	583.7	1.51%	11.29	−8.0%
10	Germany	572.3	1.48%	6.77	−28.5%
11	Canada	533.3	1.38%	13.42	−5.3%
12	Türkiye	513.0	1.33%	5.87	+32.3%
13	Brazil	483.0	1.25%	2.28	−8.6%
14	Mexico	461.0	1.19%	3.52	−3.8%
15	South Africa	439.8	1.14%	6.87	−3.9%
16	Australia	386.7	1.00%	14.48	−3.5%
17	Viet Nam	370.9	0.96%	3.67	+73.8%
18	United Kingdom	312.9	0.81%	4.53	−25.9%
19	Italy	301.9	0.78%	5.09	−16.4%
20	Malaysia	290.2	0.75%	8.16	+23.0%

Shares are of the world total of 38,599 Mt, which includes 1,192 Mt from international shipping (623 Mt) and aviation (569 Mt). Under UN reporting rules those fuels belong to no country, so they appear in the world total but in no national row. The European Union as a bloc emitted 2,426 Mt (6.29%), which would place it fourth if it were counted as one country.

Emissions per person

Dividing by population tells a different story. Among countries with at least 20 million people, the highest emitters per person in 2024 were:

Saudi Arabia

20.4 t

Australia

14.5 t

United States

14.2 t

Kazakhstan

13.9 t

Canada

13.4 t

Russia

12.3 t

Taiwan

11.3 t

South Korea

11.3 t

China

8.7 t

Iran

8.7 t

Malaysia

8.2 t

Japan

7.8 t

World average

4.7 t

The top of the per-person list is made up of small oil and gas producers: Qatar (41.3 t), Kuwait (26.2 t), Brunei Darussalam (26.0 t) and Bahrain (24.3 t). Their oil and gas production and energy-intensive industry are counted against small populations. At the other end, the average person in the Democratic Republic of the Congo emitted 0.05 t; an American emits about 260 times as much.

China’s total is 2.5 times America’s, but it is spread over 4.1 times as many people, so the average American still emits 1.6 times as much as the average Chinese resident and 6.5 times as much as the average Indian. For the full American breakdown, see the carbon footprint of the average American.

Footprint: counting what a country imports

Strictly, a country’s carbon footprint is its consumption-based emissions: the CO₂ released anywhere in the world to make the goods and services its people use. It is the territorial total, minus the CO₂ embodied in exports, plus the CO₂ embodied in imports. The Global Carbon Project estimates this for 120 countries; the latest year is 2023.

Rich importers have a larger footprint than their territorial total. The difference in 2023:

Largest net importers of embodied CO₂, 2023 — territorial vs consumption-based, Mt CO₂
Country	Territorial	Consumption (footprint)	Difference	Footprint, t per person
United States	4,918	5,432	+10.4%	15.8
United Kingdom	308	487	+58.2%	7.1
Germany	594	768	+29.4%	9.1
Japan	987	1,142	+15.7%	9.2
France	270	407	+50.7%	6.1
Singapore	51	187	+266.0%	32.3
South Korea	589	709	+20.3%	13.7
Italy	312	429	+37.4%	7.2

The United Kingdom’s footprint is 58% larger than the CO₂ it emits at home; the EU’s is 33% larger (3,302 Mt against 2,485 Mt). The countries that make those goods show the opposite:

Largest net exporters of embodied CO₂, 2023 — Mt CO₂
Country	Territorial	Consumption (footprint)	Difference	Footprint, t per person
China	12,172	10,857	−10.8%	7.6
India	3,063	2,543	−17.0%	1.8
Russia	1,733	1,406	−18.9%	9.7
Iran	790	669	−15.3%	7.4
South Africa	437	325	−25.5%	5.1
Viet Nam	347	248	−28.7%	2.5

China’s footprint is 11% below its territorial total: about 1,315 Mt of the CO₂ it emitted in 2023 went into goods consumed elsewhere. The territorial column here is the 2023 figure (consumption plus the published transfer), so both columns cover the same year.

Less certain than the territorial figure

Consumption-based estimates trace trade through a multi-region input-output model. They depend on trade statistics and on assumptions about how goods are made abroad, so treat differences of a few percent as noise. Territorial totals come from energy statistics and are the more precise of the two.

Change since 2015

World fossil CO₂ was +9.0% higher in 2024 than in 2015, the year of the Paris Agreement. Among the 20 largest emitters, the fastest growth and the steepest falls were:

Change in fossil CO₂ emissions, 2015 to 2024, among the 20 largest emitters
Rising	Change	Falling	Change
Viet Nam	+73.8%	Germany	−28.5%
Indonesia	+47.4%	United Kingdom	−25.9%
India	+43.1%	Japan	−21.2%
Türkiye	+32.3%	Italy	−16.4%
China	+24.7%	United States	−8.7%
Iran	+23.5%	Brazil	−8.6%

In the Global Carbon Project’s breakdown by fuel, coal accounts for most of the fall in Germany, the United Kingdom and Italy, and for most of the rise in Viet Nam, Indonesia and India. Japan’s fall came more from oil. In the United States, coal fell by more than the total did, offset partly by more gas.

Every country: sortable table

All 214 countries and territories in the Global Carbon Budget. Territorial figures are for 2024; footprint (consumption) figures are for 2023 and exist for 120 countries. Click a column header to sort.

Filter by country or ISO code

214 countries and territories, alphabetical. Click a column header to sort.

Fossil CO₂ emissions by country — territorial 2024 and consumption-based 2023, Global Carbon Budget 2025

Afghanistan	AFG	10.8	0.25	+15.4%	–	–
Albania	ALB	4.4	1.59	−5.7%	5.4	1.91
Algeria	DZA	198.2	4.23	+23.6%	–	–
Andorra	AND	0.42	5.18	−8.6%	–	–
Angola	AGO	22.3	0.59	−18.8%	–	–
Anguilla	AIA	0.15	10.14	+8.8%	–	–
Antigua and Barbuda	ATG	0.67	7.09	+14.9%	–	–
Argentina	ARG	171.1	3.74	−10.8%	185.7	4.08
Armenia	ARM	7.4	2.50	+35.9%	7.7	2.61
Aruba	ABW	0.92	8.52	+2.6%	–	–
Australia	AUS	386.7	14.48	−3.5%	372.2	14.07
Austria	AUT	56.4	6.18	−15.1%	76.5	8.38
Azerbaijan	AZE	39.8	3.85	+14.8%	40.8	3.96
Bahamas	BHS	3.1	7.65	+37.6%	–	–
Bahrain	BHR	39.0	24.27	+19.9%	22.1	14.06
Bangladesh	BGD	108.3	0.62	+40.8%	167.9	0.98
Barbados	BRB	1.4	4.83	+2.2%	–	–
Belarus	BLR	55.8	6.16	−5.1%	62.5	6.86
Belgium	BEL	85.5	7.28	−15.7%	196.6	16.79
Belize	BLZ	0.80	1.91	+16.2%	–	–
Benin	BEN	6.1	0.42	+14.1%	8.4	0.60
Bermuda	BMU	0.55	8.51	+1.5%	–	–
Bhutan	BTN	1.7	2.09	+15.6%	–	–
Bolivia	BOL	28.7	2.31	+44.3%	25.6	2.09
Bonaire, Saint Eustatius and Saba	BES	0.15	4.95	+18.8%	–	–
Bosnia and Herzegovina	BIH	19.4	6.14	+5.2%	–	–
Botswana	BWA	7.5	2.96	+37.7%	14.5	5.85
Brazil	BRA	483.0	2.28	−8.6%	470.0	2.23
British Virgin Islands	VGB	0.19	4.88	−13.8%	–	–
Brunei Darussalam	BRN	12.1	26.05	+73.8%	8.9	19.34
Bulgaria	BGR	31.6	4.68	−34.3%	35.3	5.20
Burkina Faso	BFA	6.5	0.28	+73.8%	5.8	0.25
Burundi	BDI	0.92	0.07	+158.3%	–	–
Cambodia	KHM	21.9	1.24	+167.3%	39.1	2.24
Cameroon	CMR	9.6	0.33	−2.2%	10.4	0.37
Canada	CAN	533.3	13.42	−5.3%	519.9	13.23
Cape Verde	CPV	0.59	1.13	+20.0%	–	–
Central African Republic	CAF	0.40	0.07	+103.6%	–	–
Chad	TCD	2.8	0.14	+20.4%	–	–
Chile	CHL	78.7	3.98	−3.7%	88.2	4.48
China	CHN	12,289.0	8.66	+24.7%	10,857.0	7.63
Colombia	COL	92.7	1.75	+1.8%	104.5	2.00
Comoros	COM	0.55	0.64	+206.7%	–	–
Congo	COG	8.8	1.40	+56.8%	–	–
Cook Islands	COK	0.08	5.83	+3.9%	–	–
Costa Rica	CRI	8.8	1.71	+19.1%	14.7	2.88
Croatia	HRV	18.5	4.76	+3.8%	23.7	6.09
Cuba	CUB	24.4	2.23	−16.0%	–	–
Curaçao	CUW	2.3	12.34	−68.8%	–	–
Cyprus	CYP	7.3	5.37	+5.0%	8.6	6.41
Czechia	CZE	75.6	7.04	−28.0%	100.0	9.25
Côte d'Ivoire	CIV	14.8	0.46	+55.2%	17.9	0.57
Democratic Republic of the Congo	COD	5.9	0.05	+80.3%	–	–
Denmark	DNK	28.4	4.75	−19.2%	49.5	8.32
Djibouti	DJI	0.56	0.48	+11.7%	–	–
Dominica	DMA	0.17	2.58	−2.8%	–	–
Dominican Republic	DOM	33.1	2.90	+44.1%	40.4	3.57
Ecuador	ECU	46.0	2.54	+11.3%	48.9	2.72
Egypt	EGY	258.4	2.22	+14.0%	253.4	2.21
El Salvador	SLV	9.0	1.42	+35.2%	11.3	1.78
Equatorial Guinea	GNQ	7.0	3.70	+0.0%	–	–
Eritrea	ERI	0.74	0.21	+33.4%	–	–
Estonia	EST	8.3	6.11	−47.4%	12.6	9.21
Eswatini	SWZ	1.0	0.84	+22.9%	–	–
Ethiopia	ETH	17.8	0.14	+42.0%	23.2	0.18
Faroe Islands	FRO	0.72	13.09	+19.2%	–	–
Fiji	FJI	1.4	1.56	−1.2%	–	–
Finland	FIN	29.8	5.30	−32.6%	47.5	8.47
France	FRA	264.2	3.97	−20.5%	407.4	6.13
French Polynesia	PYF	0.92	3.27	+9.1%	–	–
Gabon	GAB	5.4	2.13	−6.5%	–	–
Gambia	GMB	0.80	0.29	+37.7%	–	–
Georgia	GEO	11.8	3.10	+20.4%	15.4	4.04
Germany	DEU	572.3	6.77	−28.5%	768.5	9.09
Ghana	GHA	21.0	0.61	+44.3%	26.4	0.78
Greece	GRC	53.4	5.31	−28.8%	67.2	6.56
Greenland	GRL	0.62	11.09	+13.0%	–	–
Grenada	GRD	0.38	3.22	+45.0%	–	–
Guatemala	GTM	19.9	1.08	+28.7%	25.4	1.40
Guinea	GIN	4.0	0.27	+64.1%	6.4	0.44
Guinea-Bissau	GNB	0.34	0.15	+122.1%	–	–
Guyana	GUY	4.5	5.43	+129.6%	–	–
Haiti	HTI	3.0	0.25	+11.9%	–	–
Honduras	HND	12.9	1.19	+18.0%	10.5	0.98
Hong Kong	HKG	33.3	4.49	−21.4%	144.2	19.37
Hungary	HUN	40.0	4.14	−14.1%	56.7	5.86
Iceland	ISL	3.8	9.67	+7.4%	–	–
India	IND	3,193.5	2.20	+43.1%	2,543.2	1.77
Indonesia	IDN	812.2	2.87	+47.4%	728.2	2.59
Iran	IRN	792.6	8.66	+23.5%	668.6	7.38
Iraq	IRQ	233.6	5.07	+63.9%	–	–
Ireland	IRL	33.3	6.34	−14.0%	40.8	7.86
Israel	ISR	52.6	5.61	−16.4%	88.3	9.54
Italy	ITA	301.9	5.09	−16.4%	429.0	7.21
Jamaica	JAM	8.4	2.96	+5.5%	8.3	2.94
Japan	JPN	961.9	7.77	−21.2%	1,142.3	9.19
Jordan	JOR	23.2	2.01	−10.0%	31.8	2.78
Kazakhstan	KAZ	287.0	13.94	−5.3%	212.7	10.46
Kenya	KEN	21.2	0.38	+39.5%	35.0	0.63
Kiribati	KIR	0.07	0.54	+22.0%	–	–
Kosovo	KSV	8.1	4.78	−2.9%	–	–
Kuwait	KWT	129.5	26.25	+38.8%	122.3	25.28
Kyrgyzstan	KGZ	11.8	1.64	+14.7%	19.2	2.71
Laos	LAO	24.4	3.14	+165.7%	14.8	1.93
Latvia	LVA	6.5	3.45	−11.0%	13.4	7.10
Lebanon	LBN	15.7	2.70	−39.2%	–	–
Lesotho	LSO	2.6	1.10	+25.8%	–	–
Liberia	LBR	0.86	0.15	+22.9%	–	–
Libya	LBY	65.3	8.84	+7.2%	–	–
Liechtenstein	LIE	0.13	3.30	−17.5%	–	–
Lithuania	LTU	12.5	4.39	−3.9%	20.5	7.19
Luxembourg	LUX	7.0	10.46	−24.6%	7.3	11.02
Macao	MAC	1.1	1.47	−40.4%	–	–
Madagascar	MDG	4.5	0.14	+45.1%	6.4	0.21
Malawi	MWI	1.9	0.09	+79.1%	3.2	0.15
Malaysia	MYS	290.2	8.16	+23.0%	286.5	8.16
Maldives	MDV	2.3	4.37	+79.9%	–	–
Mali	MLI	7.0	0.28	+105.3%	–	–
Malta	MLT	1.7	3.20	+1.9%	14.3	26.82
Marshall Islands	MHL	0.15	4.11	+7.7%	–	–
Mauritania	MRT	5.2	1.01	+74.5%	–	–
Mauritius	MUS	4.7	3.68	+11.0%	7.9	6.21
Mexico	MEX	461.0	3.52	−3.8%	565.0	4.36
Micronesia (Federated States of)	FSM	0.15	1.33	+5.6%	–	–
Moldova	MDA	5.3	1.75	+11.3%	–	–
Mongolia	MNG	44.7	12.86	+92.0%	36.6	10.67
Montenegro	MNE	2.4	3.72	+6.1%	–	–
Montserrat	MSR	0.03	6.06	−47.1%	–	–
Morocco	MAR	69.1	1.81	+18.1%	69.9	1.85
Mozambique	MOZ	8.6	0.25	+28.0%	14.4	0.43
Myanmar	MMR	31.6	0.58	+44.4%	–	–
Namibia	NAM	3.5	1.15	+2.2%	9.6	3.25
Nauru	NRU	0.06	5.14	+10.9%	–	–
Nepal	NPL	18.8	0.63	+171.9%	47.3	1.59
Netherlands	NLD	114.8	6.30	−30.0%	150.1	8.30
New Caledonia	NCL	5.3	18.07	+8.4%	–	–
New Zealand	NZL	32.5	6.23	−9.3%	41.4	8.00
Nicaragua	NIC	5.6	0.81	+4.1%	7.2	1.05
Niger	NER	3.2	0.12	+44.2%	–	–
Nigeria	NGA	135.8	0.58	+22.9%	133.3	0.58
Niue	NIU	0.01	4.19	+14.3%	–	–
North Korea	PRK	62.5	2.36	+100.0%	–	–
North Macedonia	MKD	6.6	3.63	−1.5%	–	–
Norway	NOR	37.2	6.67	−18.3%	39.0	7.06
Oman	OMN	82.7	15.65	+21.8%	83.4	16.51
Pakistan	PAK	179.8	0.72	+24.1%	220.1	0.89
Palau	PLW	0.23	12.78	+11.9%	–	–
Panama	PAN	12.7	2.81	+18.9%	19.5	4.38
Papua New Guinea	PNG	8.3	0.79	+32.1%	–	–
Paraguay	PRY	7.9	1.15	+31.3%	13.1	1.92
Peru	PER	70.2	2.05	+42.8%	78.9	2.33
Philippines	PHL	174.9	1.51	+57.5%	211.6	1.84
Poland	POL	272.9	7.08	−12.7%	273.9	7.07
Portugal	PRT	35.5	3.41	−32.0%	47.5	4.55
Qatar	QAT	125.8	41.27	+34.8%	82.2	27.60
Romania	ROU	68.6	3.60	−12.2%	78.3	4.09
Russia	RUS	1,780.5	12.29	+8.9%	1,406.0	9.67
Rwanda	RWA	2.0	0.14	+110.3%	3.5	0.25
Saint Helena	SHN	0.01	2.17	+0.0%	–	–
Saint Kitts and Nevis	KNA	0.26	5.54	+12.6%	–	–
Saint Lucia	LCA	0.54	2.99	+11.9%	–	–
Saint Pierre and Miquelon	SPM	0.06	9.83	−16.7%	–	–
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	VCT	0.26	2.54	+9.4%	–	–
Samoa	WSM	0.25	1.13	+8.4%	–	–
Sao Tome and Principe	STP	0.14	0.60	+4.4%	–	–
Saudi Arabia	SAU	692.1	20.38	+10.8%	654.1	19.66
Senegal	SEN	14.1	0.76	+43.1%	19.0	1.05
Serbia	SRB	42.0	6.24	−4.3%	–	–
Seychelles	SYC	0.65	5.00	+31.1%	–	–
Sierra Leone	SLE	1.4	0.17	+32.3%	–	–
Singapore	SGP	53.9	9.24	+9.1%	186.9	32.29
Sint Maarten (Dutch part)	SXM	0.72	16.55	−3.5%	–	–
Slovakia	SVK	29.1	5.28	−15.7%	35.0	6.35
Slovenia	SVN	12.8	6.02	−6.6%	19.7	9.32
Solomon Islands	SLB	0.29	0.36	−0.7%	–	–
Somalia	SOM	1.3	0.07	+42.9%	–	–
South Africa	ZAF	439.8	6.87	−3.9%	325.4	5.15
South Korea	KOR	583.7	11.29	−8.0%	708.9	13.70
South Sudan	SSD	1.7	0.14	−11.3%	–	–
Spain	ESP	220.3	4.60	−18.5%	260.6	5.44
Sri Lanka	LKA	20.8	0.90	+8.6%	46.4	2.02
State of Palestine	PSE	4.8	0.87	+59.3%	–	–
Sudan	SDN	17.8	0.35	+24.9%	–	–
Suriname	SUR	3.0	4.71	+10.1%	–	–
Sweden	SWE	38.1	3.59	−12.0%	61.7	5.85
Switzerland	CHE	32.1	3.60	−17.2%	118.3	13.34
Syria	SYR	31.8	1.29	+2.1%	–	–
Taiwan	TWN	262.3	11.30	−5.0%	294.8	12.64
Tajikistan	TJK	10.7	1.01	+102.4%	13.0	1.25
Tanzania	TZA	20.0	0.29	+56.6%	25.8	0.39
Thailand	THA	267.8	3.74	−3.4%	305.6	4.26
Timor-Leste	TLS	0.67	0.48	+13.2%	–	–
Togo	TGO	2.8	0.29	+53.2%	8.6	0.93
Tonga	TON	0.15	1.46	+44.3%	–	–
Trinidad and Tobago	TTO	34.6	22.93	−24.1%	22.4	14.87
Tunisia	TUN	32.7	2.66	+4.1%	30.2	2.47
Turkmenistan	TKM	81.0	10.81	+28.4%	–	–
Turks and Caicos Islands	TCA	0.38	8.14	+20.3%	–	–
Tuvalu	TUV	0.01	1.19	+57.1%	–	–
Türkiye	TUR	513.0	5.87	+32.3%	483.0	5.54
Uganda	UGA	6.3	0.13	+39.9%	8.8	0.18
Ukraine	UKR	142.5	3.76	−36.3%	166.3	4.41
United Arab Emirates	ARE	222.0	20.13	−1.4%	248.1	23.31
United Kingdom	GBR	312.9	4.53	−25.9%	487.1	7.09
United States	USA	4,904.1	14.20	−8.7%	5,431.7	15.81
Uruguay	URY	8.0	2.35	+18.3%	10.8	3.18
Uzbekistan	UZB	139.2	3.83	+34.7%	–	–
Vanuatu	VUT	0.20	0.60	+49.2%	–	–
Venezuela	VEN	116.0	4.08	−30.2%	100.5	3.55
Viet Nam	VNM	370.9	3.67	+73.8%	247.8	2.47
Wallis and Futuna Islands	WLF	0.03	2.71	+19.2%	–	–
Yemen	YEM	10.1	0.25	−28.3%	–	–
Zambia	ZMB	12.0	0.56	+118.1%	12.7	0.61
Zimbabwe	ZWE	13.7	0.82	+14.0%	15.3	0.94
European Union (27)	EU27	2,426.2	5.39	−21.6%	3,302.2	7.33
International shipping and aviation	–	1,192.5	–	–	–	–
World	WLD	38,598.6	4.73	+9.0%	38,094.0	4.71

Every row has its own link: add #cty- and the three-letter code, for example #cty-ken. A dash means the Global Carbon Project publishes no value. Per-person values for very small territories can be extreme because a single refinery or power plant is divided among few people.

What these numbers include

Scope of the Global Carbon Budget national figures
Included	Not included
CO₂ from burning coal, oil and gas	Methane, nitrous oxide and fluorinated gases
CO₂ from cement production and other carbonates	CO₂ from deforestation and other land-use change
Gas flaring	International shipping and aviation (in the world total only)

So these are fossil CO₂ figures, not total greenhouse gas emissions. Sources that add the other gases, such as the EU’s EDGAR database or national inventories reported to the UN, give higher numbers for the same country (EDGAR’s all-gas figure for the United States is about 17 t per person rather than 14). Compare countries within one source, never across two.

The Global Carbon Project publishes in million tonnes of carbon. We convert with its stated factor of 3.664 tonnes of CO₂ per tonne of carbon (the ratio of their molar masses; see the carbon to CO₂ converter). Population for per-person values is the UN’s World Population Prospects as compiled by the Global Carbon Project; for 2024 it is a UN projection.

Worked example

Two calculations from the table, using China’s 2024 row:

Share of the world: 12,289.0 Mt ÷ 38,598.6 Mt = 31.8%.
Per person: 12,289.0 Mt ÷ 0.0 million people = 8.66 t CO₂ per person.
Footprint gap (2023): territorial 12,172.0 Mt − consumption 10,857.0 Mt = 1,315.0 Mt embodied in net exports.

Common errors

Adding up countries to get the world. The 214 national totals sum to 37,406 Mt, not 38,599 Mt: international shipping and aviation (1,192 Mt) belong to no country.
Comparing different years. Territorial data run to 2024, footprints to 2023. Compare a footprint with the territorial figure for the same year.
Mixing CO₂ with CO₂e. This page is fossil CO₂ only. An all-gas figure from another database is not comparable.
Reading carbon as CO₂. The source workbook is in tonnes of carbon. Forgetting the 3.664 factor understates emissions by almost three quarters.
Trusting extreme per-person values for tiny territories. Population estimates and single facilities dominate there.

Provenance and data access

From the Global Carbon Project to this page
Stage	Detail
Territorial totals and per person	Andrew, R. M. and Peters, G. P., The Global Carbon Project’s fossil CO₂ emissions dataset, version 2025v15 (Zenodo, 22 October 2025). Values in Mt CO₂ and t CO₂ per person.
Footprints and transfers	Global Carbon Budget 2025 supplemental data, National Fossil Carbon Emissions 2025 v1.0 (ICOS Carbon Portal), sheets “Consumption Emissions” and “Emissions Transfers”, method of Peters, Davis and Andrew (2012). Converted from carbon with ×3.664. Footprint per person is our division by the Global Carbon Project’s population series.
In MasterBrain	Section `national_emissions`, 1,016 rows (sources `GCP_FOSSIL_CO2_2025V15` and `GCB_2025_NATIONAL`), each citing its file, cell and value.
Licence	CC BY 4.0. Reuse freely with credit to the Global Carbon Project.

Every row is served from the open factor API:

/wp-json/greencalculus/v1/factors?key_prefix=national_emissions.co2.territorial. — 2024 totals (218 rows, including world, EU27 and the two bunker rows)
/wp-json/greencalculus/v1/factors?key_prefix=national_emissions.co2.territorial_per_capita. — 2024 per person
/wp-json/greencalculus/v1/factors?key_prefix=national_emissions.co2.consumption. — 2023 footprints
/wp-json/greencalculus/v1/factors?key_prefix=national_emissions.co2.net_export_transfer. — 2023 transfers (territorial minus consumption; positive means a net exporter)

Citation guidance

Friedlingstein, P. et al. (2026). Global Carbon Budget 2025. Earth System Science Data, 18, 3211–3288. doi:10.5194/essd-18-3211-2026. National data: Andrew, R. M. and Peters, G. P. (2025), doi:10.5281/zenodo.17417124.

Primary citation

Dark green Pinterest pin titled DATA · CO₂ BY COUNTRY. Serif headline: One planet, very different carbon footprints per person. A light card lists fossil CO₂ per person in 2024: United States 14.2 t, world average 4.7 t, India 2.2 t; an American emits about 6.5× as much as an Indian. Source: Global Carbon Budget 2025. — Save to Pinterest Download · 1000×1500 JPG

Frequently asked questions

Which country has the largest carbon footprint?

China. It emitted 12,289 million tonnes of fossil CO₂ in 2024, 31.84% of the world total, and it also has the largest consumption-based footprint (10,857 Mt in 2023). The United States is second on both measures.

Which country emits the most CO₂ per person?

Qatar, at 41.3 tonnes per person in 2024. Among countries with more than 20 million people the highest are Saudi Arabia (20.4 t), Australia (14.5 t) and United States (14.2 t).

What is the average carbon footprint per person in the world?

4.73 tonnes of fossil CO₂ per person in 2024: the world total of 38,599 million tonnes divided by about 8.16 billion people. Including methane and the other gases gives a higher figure.

What is the difference between territorial and consumption-based emissions?

Territorial emissions are released inside a country. Consumption-based emissions (the footprint) are released anywhere to make what the country consumes: territorial emissions minus those embodied in exports plus those embodied in imports. Rich importers such as the UK and the US have a larger footprint than their territorial total; manufacturing exporters such as China have a smaller one.

Do these figures include methane and deforestation?

No. They cover fossil CO₂ from coal, oil, gas, cement, flaring and other carbonates. Methane, nitrous oxide, fluorinated gases and CO₂ from land-use change are excluded, so all-gas totals from other databases are higher.

How often is this data updated?

Once a year. The Global Carbon Project publishes each Global Carbon Budget in November, adding the previous calendar year for territorial emissions. These figures are from the 2025 edition; we update the page when the next edition is published.

Version history

Substantive revisions to this dataset reference page
Version	Date	MasterBrain	Summary
1.0	2026-10-06	v2026.231	Initial publication: Global Carbon Budget 2025 fossil CO₂ for 214 countries (2024 totals, per person, change since 2015) and 2023 consumption-based footprints for 120 countries.

Provenance

MasterBrain v2026.248

Every number on this site comes from one versioned database

MasterBrain is the reference corpus behind GreenCalculus. It is versioned, dated, and every row names the published document it was read from.

Factors: 18,995
Source documents: 228each with a licence
Edition: v2026.2487 Oct 2026

See every source and its licence

Cite this page

APA

Say, J. (2026). Carbon Footprint by Country: CO₂ Emissions in 2024. GreenCalculus. MasterBrain data edition v2026.248 (7 Oct 2026). https://greencalculus.com/data/co2-emissions-by-country/

BibTeX

@misc{greencalculus_co2_emissions_by_country_2026,
  author       = {Say, Jeremiah},
  title        = {Carbon Footprint by Country: CO₂ Emissions in 2024},
  year         = {2026},
  organization = {GreenCalculus},
  note         = {MasterBrain data edition v2026.248 (7 Oct 2026)},
  url          = {https://greencalculus.com/data/co2-emissions-by-country/}
}

Drawn from 18,995 factors across 228 source documents · edition v2026.248, updated 7 Oct 2026 · every source and its licence