These figures show how much CO₂ each country emits per person in a year. They are a useful benchmark for your own footprint, as long as you know what they include. All values come from Our World in Data’s CO₂ dataset, which is based on the Global Carbon BudgetSource 2. The full table covers every country in the dataset.
This page is part of our carbon footprint section.
- Australia: 14.5 tonnes
- United States: 14.2 tonnes
- Canada: 13.4 tonnes
- South Korea: 11.3 tonnes
- China: 8.7 tonnes
- Japan: 7.8 tonnes
- Germany: 6.8 tonnes
- World: 4.7 tonnes
- United Kingdom: 4.5 tonnes
- France: 4.0 tonnes
- Brazil: 2.3 tonnes
- India: 2.2 tonnes
What these numbers include
Fossil fuel and industry CO₂ within each countrySource 2. They exclude imported goods and other greenhouse gases, which a personal footprint includes.
Which countries emit the most per person?
The highest figures belong to a few small economies. In 2024 Qatar emitted about 41.3 tonnes of CO₂ per person, Kuwait 26.2, Brunei 26.0, Bahrain 24.3 and Trinidad and Tobago 22.9Source 1. Among large economies, Australia (14.5 tonnes), the United States (14.2) and Canada (13.4) are the highestSource 1.
At the other end, 53 countries emitted less than 1 tonne per person, most of them in AfricaSource 1. Ethiopia was at 0.1 tonnes, Nigeria and Bangladesh at 0.6, and Pakistan at 0.7Source 1. India, the world’s most populous country, was at 2.2 tonnes, and China at 8.7Source 1.
The world average was about 4.7 tonnes per person in 2024Source 1. The United Kingdom (4.5 tonnes) and France (4.0) sit just below it; Germany (6.8) and Japan (7.8) above itSource 1.
Territorial vs consumption-based emissions
The main figures on this page are territorial, or production-based: they count the CO₂ released inside a country’s bordersSource 3. Consumption-based figures adjust for trade. When a good is imported, the emissions from making it count towards the country that buys itSource 3.
The difference can be large. Our World in Data notes that most of Western Europe and the Americas are net importers of emissions, while most of Eastern Europe and Asia are net exportersSource 3.
Scrolls sideways to show every column.
| Country | Territorial, 2024 (t) | Consumption-based, 2023 (t) |
|---|---|---|
| Switzerland | 3.6 | 13.3 |
| Singapore | 9.2 | 32.3 |
| United Kingdom | 4.5 | 7.1 |
| United States | 14.2 | 15.8 |
| China | 8.7 | 7.6 |
| South Africa | 6.9 | 5.1 |
| India | 2.2 | 1.8 |
As of Oct 2026 · Source: [1] Our World in Data, CO₂ dataset
For a country that imports much of what it uses, such as Switzerland or the United Kingdom, the consumption-based figure is closer to what residents’ lifestyles cause. Where consumption-based data exists, it is shown next to the territorial value in the full table below.
Why your own footprint is usually different
National averages divide a country’s emissions by its population. They include emissions from industry, freight and public services that no single person controls, and they leave out methane, nitrous oxide and other gases.
Studies that measure household consumption across all greenhouse gases give a different picture. A review of 53 such studies put the global average at about 6 tonnes of CO₂e per person, with 13.4 tonnes in North America, 7.5 in Europe and 1.7 in Africa and the Middle EastSource 4. The 1.5-Degree Lifestyles report estimated 2019 lifestyle footprints of 13.6 tonnes of CO₂e per person in Canada, 8.5 in the United Kingdom, 3.0 in India and 2.2 in IndonesiaSource 5.
How to compare yourself
Use the footprint calculator to see your own number against your country’s average.
For a climate-aligned reference, the 1.5-Degree Lifestyles report sets lifestyle footprint targets of 2.5 tonnes of CO₂e per person by 2030, 1.4 tonnes by 2040 and 0.7 tonnes by 2050Source 5. Almost everyone in a high-income country is well above that today, which is why our guide to reducing your carbon footprint comes before any advice on buying credits.
Reduce first, then offset
- Footprint: 10.0 t
- After cuts: 6.0 t
- Offset: 6.0 t
Example only, not a measured household. Credits cover what’s left after reductions — not the whole footprint.
Once you have cut what you can, reduce vs offset explains how to size the credits for what is left. For the definitions behind these numbers, see what is a carbon footprint?
Where the numbers come from
Our World in Data compiles these figures from the Global Carbon Budget, an annual estimate of CO₂ from burning fossil fuels and industrial processes, and divides each country’s total by its populationSource 2. The series runs from 1750 to 2024, and it does not include CO₂ from changes in land use, such as deforestationSource 2.
We take the latest year available for each country from the public dataset and rebuild this page when it is updatedSource 1. The same file drives the country averages in our footprint calculator, so the two always match. A few points to keep in mind when you read the table:
- One year can mislead. Emissions move with the economy, the weather and energy prices, so a single year is a snapshot rather than a trend.
- CO₂ is not everything. Methane, nitrous oxide and other greenhouse gases are left out, so these figures understate each country’s full climate impact.
- Averages hide differences. A national figure divides the total evenly across everyone, but footprints within a country vary widely with income and lifestyle.
Every country
Territorial CO₂ per person for every country in the dataset, highest first, with consumption-based figures where they existSource 1. Country guides on this site link straight to their row.
Scrolls sideways to show every column.
| Country | Territorial CO₂, 2024 (t per person) | Consumption-based CO₂, 2023 (t per person) |
|---|---|---|
| World average | 4.7 | — |
| Qatar | 41.3 | 27.6 |
| Kuwait | 26.2 | 25.3 |
| Brunei | 26.0 | 19.3 |
| Bahrain | 24.3 | 14.1 |
| Trinidad and Tobago | 22.9 | 14.9 |
| Saudi Arabia | 20.4 | 19.7 |
| United Arab Emirates | 20.1 | 23.3 |
| New Caledonia | 18.1 | — |
| Sint Maarten (Dutch part) | 16.5 | — |
| Oman | 15.7 | 16.5 |
| Australia | 14.5 | 14.1 |
| United States | 14.2 | 15.8 |
| Kazakhstan | 13.9 | 10.5 |
| Canada | 13.4 | 13.2 |
| Faroe Islands | 13.1 | — |
| Mongolia | 12.9 | 10.7 |
| Palau | 12.8 | — |
| Curacao | 12.3 | — |
| Russia | 12.3 | 9.7 |
| Taiwan | 11.3 | 12.6 |
| South Korea | 11.3 | 13.7 |
| Greenland | 11.1 | — |
| Turkmenistan | 10.8 | — |
| Luxembourg | 10.5 | 11.0 |
| Anguilla | 10.1 | — |
| Saint Pierre and Miquelon | 9.8 | — |
| Iceland | 9.7 | — |
| Singapore | 9.2 | 32.3 |
| Libya | 8.8 | — |
| China | 8.7 | 7.6 |
| Iran | 8.7 | 7.4 |
| Aruba | 8.5 | — |
| Bermuda | 8.5 | — |
| Malaysia | 8.2 | 8.2 |
| Turks and Caicos Islands | 8.1 | — |
| Japan | 7.8 | 9.2 |
| Bahamas | 7.7 | — |
| Belgium | 7.3 | 16.8 |
| Antigua and Barbuda | 7.1 | — |
| Poland | 7.1 | 7.1 |
| Czechia | 7.0 | 9.3 |
| South Africa | 6.9 | 5.1 |
| Germany | 6.8 | 9.1 |
| Norway | 6.7 | 7.1 |
| Ireland | 6.3 | 7.9 |
| Netherlands | 6.3 | 8.3 |
| Serbia | 6.2 | — |
| New Zealand | 6.2 | 8.0 |
| Austria | 6.2 | 8.4 |
| Belarus | 6.2 | 6.9 |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 6.1 | — |
| Estonia | 6.1 | 9.2 |
| Montserrat | 6.0 | — |
| Slovenia | 6.0 | 9.3 |
| Turkey | 5.9 | 5.5 |
| Cook Islands | 5.8 | — |
| Israel | 5.6 | 9.5 |
| Saint Kitts and Nevis | 5.5 | — |
| Guyana | 5.4 | — |
| Cyprus | 5.4 | 6.4 |
| Greece | 5.3 | 6.6 |
| Finland | 5.3 | 8.5 |
| Slovakia | 5.3 | 6.3 |
| Andorra | 5.2 | — |
| Nauru | 5.1 | — |
| Italy | 5.1 | 7.2 |
| Iraq | 5.1 | — |
| Seychelles | 5.0 | — |
| Bonaire Sint Eustatius and Saba | 4.9 | — |
| British Virgin Islands | 4.9 | — |
| Barbados | 4.8 | — |
| Croatia | 4.8 | 6.1 |
| Denmark | 4.7 | 8.3 |
| Suriname | 4.7 | — |
| Bulgaria | 4.7 | 5.2 |
| Spain | 4.6 | 5.4 |
| United Kingdom | 4.5 | 7.1 |
| Hong Kong | 4.5 | 19.4 |
| Lithuania | 4.4 | 7.2 |
| Maldives | 4.4 | — |
| Algeria | 4.2 | — |
| Niue | 4.1 | — |
| Hungary | 4.1 | 5.9 |
| Marshall Islands | 4.1 | — |
| Venezuela | 4.1 | 3.6 |
| Chile | 4.0 | 4.5 |
| France | 4.0 | 6.1 |
| Azerbaijan | 3.9 | 4.0 |
| Uzbekistan | 3.8 | — |
| Ukraine | 3.8 | 4.4 |
| Argentina | 3.7 | 4.1 |
| Thailand | 3.7 | 4.3 |
| Montenegro | 3.7 | — |
| Equatorial Guinea | 3.7 | — |
| Mauritius | 3.7 | 6.2 |
| Vietnam | 3.7 | 2.5 |
| North Macedonia | 3.6 | — |
| Romania | 3.6 | 4.1 |
| Switzerland | 3.6 | 13.3 |
| Sweden | 3.6 | 5.9 |
| Mexico | 3.5 | 4.4 |
| Latvia | 3.5 | 7.1 |
| Portugal | 3.4 | 4.6 |
| Liechtenstein | 3.3 | — |
| French Polynesia | 3.3 | — |
| Grenada | 3.2 | — |
| Malta | 3.2 | 26.8 |
| Laos | 3.1 | 1.9 |
| Georgia | 3.1 | 4.0 |
| Saint Lucia | 3.0 | — |
| Botswana | 3.0 | 5.9 |
| Jamaica | 3.0 | 2.9 |
| Dominican Republic | 2.9 | 3.6 |
| Indonesia | 2.9 | 2.6 |
| Panama | 2.8 | 4.4 |
| Wallis and Futuna | 2.7 | — |
| Lebanon | 2.7 | — |
| Tunisia | 2.7 | 2.5 |
| Dominica | 2.6 | — |
| Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 2.5 | — |
| Ecuador | 2.5 | 2.7 |
| Armenia | 2.5 | 2.6 |
| North Korea | 2.4 | — |
| Uruguay | 2.4 | 3.2 |
| Bolivia | 2.3 | 2.1 |
| Brazil | 2.3 | 2.2 |
| Cuba | 2.2 | — |
| Egypt | 2.2 | 2.2 |
| India | 2.2 | 1.8 |
| Saint Helena | 2.2 | — |
| Gabon | 2.1 | — |
| Bhutan | 2.1 | — |
| Peru | 2.1 | 2.3 |
| Jordan | 2.0 | 2.8 |
| Belize | 1.9 | — |
| Morocco | 1.8 | 1.9 |
| Moldova | 1.8 | — |
| Colombia | 1.8 | 2.0 |
| Costa Rica | 1.7 | 2.9 |
| Kyrgyzstan | 1.6 | 2.7 |
| Albania | 1.6 | 1.9 |
| Fiji | 1.6 | — |
| Philippines | 1.5 | 1.8 |
| Macao | 1.5 | — |
| Tonga | 1.5 | — |
| El Salvador | 1.4 | 1.8 |
| Congo | 1.4 | — |
| Micronesia (country) | 1.3 | — |
| Syria | 1.3 | — |
| Cambodia | 1.2 | 2.2 |
| Honduras | 1.2 | 1.0 |
| Tuvalu | 1.2 | — |
| Namibia | 1.1 | 3.3 |
| Paraguay | 1.1 | 1.9 |
| Cape Verde | 1.1 | — |
| Samoa | 1.1 | — |
| Lesotho | 1.1 | — |
| Guatemala | 1.1 | 1.4 |
| Tajikistan | 1.0 | 1.3 |
| Mauritania | 1.0 | — |
| Sri Lanka | 0.9 | 2.0 |
| Palestine | 0.9 | — |
| Eswatini | 0.8 | — |
| Zimbabwe | 0.8 | 0.9 |
| Nicaragua | 0.8 | 1.1 |
| Papua New Guinea | 0.8 | — |
| Senegal | 0.8 | 1.1 |
| Pakistan | 0.7 | 0.9 |
| Comoros | 0.6 | — |
| Nepal | 0.6 | 1.6 |
| Bangladesh | 0.6 | 1.0 |
| Ghana | 0.6 | 0.8 |
| Sao Tome and Principe | 0.6 | — |
| Vanuatu | 0.6 | — |
| Angola | 0.6 | — |
| Nigeria | 0.6 | 0.6 |
| Myanmar | 0.6 | — |
| Zambia | 0.6 | 0.6 |
| Kiribati | 0.5 | — |
| Djibouti | 0.5 | — |
| East Timor | 0.5 | — |
| Cote d'Ivoire | 0.5 | 0.6 |
| Benin | 0.4 | 0.6 |
| Kenya | 0.4 | 0.6 |
| Solomon Islands | 0.4 | — |
| Sudan | 0.4 | — |
| Cameroon | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Togo | 0.3 | 1.1 |
| Tanzania | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Gambia | 0.3 | — |
| Mali | 0.3 | — |
| Burkina Faso | 0.3 | 0.3 |
| Guinea | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Afghanistan | 0.3 | — |
| Haiti | 0.3 | — |
| Mozambique | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Yemen | 0.2 | — |
| Eritrea | 0.2 | — |
| Sierra Leone | 0.2 | — |
| Guinea-Bissau | 0.2 | — |
| Liberia | 0.2 | — |
| Rwanda | 0.1 | 0.3 |
| Madagascar | 0.1 | 0.2 |
| South Sudan | 0.1 | — |
| Chad | 0.1 | — |
| Ethiopia | 0.1 | 0.2 |
| Uganda | 0.1 | 0.2 |
| Niger | 0.1 | — |
| Malawi | 0.1 | 0.2 |
| Central African Republic | 0.1 | — |
| Somalia | 0.1 | — |
| Burundi | 0.1 | — |
| Democratic Republic of Congo | 0.1 | — |
As of Oct 2026 · Source: [1] Our World in Data, CO₂ dataset (Global Carbon Budget)