evee Central

Ranked: World Carbon Emissions by Country

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.

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.