Pallavi Rao
2025-05-22 10:33:00
www.visualcapitalist.com
Visualized: Share of World Carbon Emissions by Country
This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.
Key Takeaways
- China accounts for 26.2% of world carbon emissions, while the U.S. is responsible for another 11.5%.
- This was equivalent to 12.7 billion tons of carbon dioxide for China and 5.6 billion tCO2e for the U.S. in 2022.
- Most of the top 10 emitters are also the world’s most populous countries, barring Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Canada.
This graphic breaks down the share of global carbon emissions by country, categorized into income groups.
Countries with a share below 0.4% are combined into the “other” group in each income category.
Data for this chart is sourced from Climate Watch for the year 2022—the latest available figures. Income group categorization uses the current World Bank classification system.

Share of World Carbon Emissions by Country in 2022
Ranked first, China accounts for 26% of all global emissions, measured at 12.7 billion tCO2e in 2022. For reference, China has a population of 1.4 billion people.
Rank | Country | ISO Code | Share of Total Emissions |
Carbon Emissions (in million tCO2e, 2022) |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
CHN | 26.16% | 12,716 |
2 | ![]() |
USA | 11.53% | 5,604 |
3 | ![]() |
IND | 7.69% | 3,737 |
4 | ![]() |
RUS | 3.75% | 1,821 |
5 | ![]() |
BRA | 3.16% | 1,538 |
6 | ![]() |
IDN | 3.15% | 1,530 |
7 | ![]() |
JPN | 2.15% | 1,044 |
8 | ![]() |
IRN | 2.06% | 1,004 |
9 | ![]() |
SAU | 1.60% | 775 |
10 | ![]() |
CAN | 1.54% | 750 |
11 | ![]() |
COD | 1.44% | 700 |
12 | ![]() |
DEU | 1.43% | 696 |
13 | ![]() |
MEX | 1.31% | 637 |
14 | ![]() |
KOR | 1.29% | 627 |
15 | ![]() |
AUS | 1.18% | 574 |
16 | ![]() |
ZAF | 1.09% | 530 |
17 | ![]() |
PAK | 1.04% | 505 |
18 | ![]() |
TUR | 1.02% | 497 |
19 | ![]() |
THA | 0.96% | 466 |
20 | ![]() |
VNM | 0.93% | 454 |
21 | ![]() |
ARG | 0.88% | 429 |
22 | ![]() |
GBR | 0.85% | 414 |
23 | ![]() |
MYS | 0.80% | 387 |
24 | ![]() |
ITA | 0.76% | 370 |
25 | ![]() |
NGA | 0.73% | 356 |
26 | ![]() |
POL | 0.72% | 348 |
27 | ![]() |
EGY | 0.69% | 336 |
28 | ![]() |
FRA | 0.68% | 330 |
29 | ![]() |
KAZ | 0.68% | 328 |
30 | ![]() |
IRQ | 0.63% | 305 |
31 | ![]() |
DZA | 0.60% | 293 |
32 | ![]() |
COL | 0.57% | 279 |
33 | ![]() |
ESP | 0.57% | 275 |
34 | ![]() |
VEN | 0.54% | 264 |
35 | ![]() |
BGD | 0.52% | 255 |
36 | ![]() |
ARE | 0.52% | 253 |
37 | ![]() |
PHL | 0.51% | 247 |
38 | ![]() |
TKM | 0.44% | 215 |
39 | ![]() |
MMR | 0.43% | 209 |
40 | ![]() |
ETH | 0.43% | 209 |
41 | ![]() |
PER | 0.41% | 199 |
42 | ![]() |
UZB | 0.38% | 187 |
43 | ![]() |
TZA | 0.36% | 176 |
44 | ![]() |
UKR | 0.35% | 169 |
45 | ![]() |
NLD | 0.31% | 153 |
46 | ![]() |
KWT | 0.31% | 149 |
47 | ![]() |
BOL | 0.28% | 136 |
48 | ![]() |
AGO | 0.27% | 134 |
49 | ![]() |
CMR | 0.27% | 131 |
50 | ![]() |
SDN | 0.26% | 128 |
51 | ![]() |
QAT | 0.25% | 122 |
52 | ![]() |
TCD | 0.25% | 119 |
53 | ![]() |
ZWE | 0.24% | 117 |
54 | ![]() |
MOZ | 0.24% | 115 |
55 | ![]() |
CZE | 0.22% | 106 |
56 | ![]() |
OMN | 0.22% | 106 |
57 | ![]() |
ECU | 0.21% | 103 |
58 | ![]() |
LBY | 0.21% | 102 |
59 | ![]() |
ZMB | 0.20% | 96 |
60 | ![]() |
PRY | 0.20% | 95 |
61 | ![]() |
BEL | 0.19% | 95 |
62 | ![]() |
MAR | 0.19% | 92 |
63 | ![]() |
ISR | 0.18% | 89 |
64 | ![]() |
PRK | 0.18% | 87 |
65 | ![]() |
BLR | 0.17% | 84 |
66 | ![]() |
MNG | 0.17% | 82 |
67 | ![]() |
KEN | 0.17% | 81 |
68 | ![]() |
KHM | 0.16% | 77 |
69 | ![]() |
ROU | 0.16% | 77 |
70 | ![]() |
GRC | 0.15% | 72 |
71 | ![]() |
SGP | 0.14% | 70 |
72 | ![]() |
NZL | 0.14% | 68 |
73 | ![]() |
IRL | 0.14% | 67 |
74 | ![]() |
SSD | 0.13% | 64 |
75 | ![]() |
AUT | 0.13% | 63 |
76 | ![]() |
SRB | 0.13% | 63 |
77 | ![]() |
UGA | 0.13% | 61 |
78 | ![]() |
CIV | 0.12% | 61 |
79 | ![]() |
FIN | 0.12% | 60 |
80 | ![]() |
BWA | 0.12% | 60 |
81 | ![]() |
BFA | 0.12% | 59 |
82 | ![]() |
HUN | 0.12% | 59 |
83 | ![]() |
SYR | 0.12% | 58 |
84 | ![]() African Republic |
CAF | 0.12% | 58 |
85 | ![]() |
AZE | 0.12% | 57 |
86 | ![]() |
BHR | 0.12% | 57 |
87 | ![]() New Guinea |
PNG | 0.11% | 55 |
88 | ![]() |
PRT | 0.11% | 54 |
89 | ![]() |
NPL | 0.11% | 53 |
90 | ![]() |
NER | 0.11% | 53 |
91 | ![]() |
CHL | 0.11% | 52 |
92 | ![]() |
MLI | 0.10% | 47 |
93 | ![]() |
SLB | 0.10% | 46 |
94 | ![]() |
DOM | 0.09% | 45 |
95 | ![]() |
LAO | 0.09% | 45 |
96 | ![]() |
MDG | 0.09% | 43 |
97 | ![]() |
SOM | 0.09% | 43 |
98 | ![]() |
GTM | 0.09% | 43 |
99 | ![]() |
GIN | 0.09% | 43 |
100 | ![]() |
DNK | 0.09% | 43 |
101 | ![]() |
CHE | 0.08% | 41 |
102 | ![]() |
NIC | 0.08% | 40 |
103 | ![]() |
SEN | 0.08% | 39 |
104 | ![]() |
TUN | 0.08% | 39 |
105 | ![]() |
LKA | 0.08% | 36 |
106 | ![]() |
URY | 0.07% | 36 |
107 | ![]() |
JOR | 0.07% | 36 |
108 | ![]() |
SVK | 0.07% | 35 |
109 | ![]() |
SWE | 0.07% | 34 |
110 | ![]() |
AFG | 0.07% | 33 |
111 | ![]() |
NOR | 0.06% | 32 |
112 | ![]() |
COG | 0.06% | 31 |
113 | ![]() |
CUB | 0.06% | 30 |
114 | ![]() |
HND | 0.06% | 29 |
115 | ![]() |
YEM | 0.06% | 28 |
116 | ![]() |
BEN | 0.05% | 26 |
117 | ![]() & Tobago |
TTO | 0.05% | 24 |
118 | ![]() Herzegovina |
BIH | 0.05% | 24 |
119 | ![]() |
PAN | 0.05% | 24 |
120 | ![]() |
LTU | 0.05% | 24 |
121 | ![]() |
NAM | 0.05% | 22 |
122 | ![]() |
GAB | 0.04% | 22 |
123 | ![]() |
MWI | 0.04% | 21 |
124 | ![]() |
BGR | 0.04% | 20 |
125 | ![]() |
GUY | 0.04% | 20 |
126 | ![]() |
GEO | 0.04% | 19 |
127 | ![]() |
TJK | 0.04% | 19 |
128 | ![]() |
LBN | 0.04% | 18 |
129 | ![]() |
HRV | 0.04% | 18 |
130 | ![]() |
GHA | 0.04% | 18 |
131 | ![]() |
EST | 0.04% | 18 |
132 | ![]() |
SVN | 0.03% | 16 |
133 | ![]() |
LBR | 0.03% | 15 |
134 | ![]() |
SLV | 0.03% | 14 |
135 | ![]() |
KGZ | 0.03% | 14 |
136 | ![]() |
MRT | 0.03% | 14 |
137 | ![]() |
SUR | 0.03% | 14 |
138 | ![]() |
MDA | 0.03% | 13 |
139 | ![]() |
GNQ | 0.02% | 12 |
140 | ![]() |
HTI | 0.02% | 12 |
141 | ![]() |
BRN | 0.02% | 12 |
142 | ![]() |
LVA | 0.02% | 11 |
143 | ![]() |
ARM | 0.02% | 11 |
144 | ![]() |
TGO | 0.02% | 11 |
145 | ![]() |
MKD | 0.02% | 10 |
146 | ![]() |
SLE | 0.02% | 10 |
147 | ![]() |
RWA | 0.02% | 10 |
148 | ![]() |
JAM | 0.02% | 9 |
149 | ![]() |
CRI | 0.02% | 9 |
150 | ![]() |
CYP | 0.02% | 8 |
151 | ![]() |
BDI | 0.02% | 8 |
152 | ![]() |
ALB | 0.02% | 8 |
153 | ![]() |
LUX | 0.02% | 8 |
154 | ![]() |
ERI | 0.01% | 7 |
155 | ![]() |
MUS | 0.01% | 7 |
156 | ![]() |
BLZ | 0.01% | 7 |
157 | ![]() |
TLS | 0.01% | 6 |
158 | ![]() |
GNB | 0.01% | 4 |
159 | ![]() |
LSO | 0.01% | 4 |
160 | ![]() |
MNE | 0.01% | 4 |
161 | ![]() |
BRB | 0.01% | 4 |
162 | ![]() |
ISL | 0.01% | 3 |
163 | ![]() |
SWZ | 0.01% | 3 |
164 | ![]() |
BHS | 0.01% | 3 |
165 | ![]() |
GMB | 0.01% | 3 |
166 | ![]() |
MDV | 0.01% | 3 |
167 | ![]() |
GRD | 0.00% | 2 |
168 | ![]() |
MLT | 0.00% | 2 |
169 | ![]() |
DJI | 0.00% | 2 |
170 | ![]() & Barbuda |
ATG | 0.00% | 2 |
171 | ![]() |
SYC | 0.00% | 1 |
172 | ![]() |
LCA | 0.00% | 1 |
173 | ![]() |
BTN | 0.00% | 1 |
174 | ![]() |
COM | 0.00% | 1 |
175 | ![]() |
CPV | 0.00% | 1 |
176 | ![]() |
VUT | 0.00% | 1 |
177 | ![]() |
WSM | 0.00% | 1 |
178 | ![]() |
AND | 0.00% | 1 |
179 | ![]() & Principe |
STP | 0.00% | 0.4 |
180 | ![]() & Nevis |
KNA | 0.00% | 0.4 |
181 | ![]() & the Grenadines |
VCT | 0.00% | 0.3 |
182 | ![]() |
TON | 0.00% | 0.3 |
183 | ![]() |
PLW | 0.00% | 0.2 |
184 | ![]() |
DMA | 0.00% | 0.2 |
185 | ![]() |
MHL | 0.00% | 0.2 |
186 | ![]() |
FSM | 0.00% | 0.2 |
187 | ![]() |
LIE | 0.00% | 0.2 |
188 | ![]() |
KIR | 0.00% | 0.1 |
189 | ![]() |
COK | 0.00% | 0.1 |
190 | ![]() |
NRU | 0.00% | 0.1 |
191 | ![]() |
TUV | 0.00% | 0.02 |
192 | ![]() |
NIU | 0.00% | 0.01 |
N/A | ![]() |
N/A | N/A | 48,612 |
Meanwhile, at second place, the U.S. is responsible for another 11.5% of all emissions, with a population of 333 million people.
The two countries together account for 38% of the entire world’s emissions. This is slightly less than their share of the world economy (43%) and a lot less than their share of the world’s population (22%).
On a per capita basis, the U.S. produces almost double the emissions per person (14 tCO2e) compared to China (8 tCO2e).
Most of the top 10 emitters are also the world’s most populous countries, barring Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Canada.
Developing Countries Are Driving Emissions Growth
Another obvious takeaway from the chart is how middle-income countries are responsible for the largest share of emissions.
Before we can go into the why, there is also some simple arithmetic at play. For one, more countries are in the middle-income distribution than high- or low-income categories.
And many of these middle-income countries have large, growing populations, which increases aggregate emissions.
However, it is also true that they are driving global carbon emissions growth. And this is because:
- They are prioritizing economic development, leading to an overall increase in energy consumption (and related emissions).
- Most emissions-heavy industries and manufacturing plants have moved from high-income countries to middle- and low-income ones.
- Thus, high-income countries are able to sustain their consumption levels while the emissions from producing the goods they consume are accounted for elsewhere.
This last point is particularly crucial when it comes to emissions math. In fact, when accounting for these consumption-based emissions on a per capita basis, high-income countries are still responsible for a significant part of global carbon emissions.
Learn More on the Voronoi App 
Wondering what the same chart looks like, but with an economic lens? Check out: World’s Carbon Emissions by Sector for a similar breakdown.
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