List of countries by carbon dioxide emissions per capita

This is a list of sovereign states and territories by per capita carbon dioxide emissions^{[n 1]} due to certain forms of human activity, based on the EDGAR database created by European Commission. The following table lists the 1970, 1990, 2005, 2017 and 2022 annual per capita CO₂ emissions estimates (in kilotons of CO₂ per year).^[4]

The data only consider carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of fossil fuels and cement manufacture, but not emissions from land use, land-use change and forestry^{[n 2]} Over the last 150 years, estimated cumulative emissions from land use and land-use change represent approximately one-third of total cumulative anthropogenic CO₂ emissions.^[7] Emissions from international shipping or bunker fuels are also not included in national figures,^[8] which can make a large difference for small countries with important ports.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report finds that the "Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU)" sector on average, accounted for 13-21% of global total anthropogenic GHG emissions in the period 2010–2019.^[9] Land use change drivers net AFOLU CO₂ emission fluxes, with deforestation being responsible for 45% of total AFOLU emissions. In addition to being a net carbon sink and source of GHG emissions, land plays an important role in climate through albedo effects, evapotranspiration, and aerosol loading through emissions of volatile organic compounds.^[9] The IPCC report finds that the LULUCF sector offers significant near-term mitigation potential while providing food, wood and other renewable resources as well as biodiversity conservation. Mitigation measures in forests and other natural ecosystems provide the largest share of the LULUCF mitigation potential between 2020 and 2050. Among various LULUCF activities, reducing deforestation has the largest potential to reduce anthropogenic GHG emissions, followed by carbon sequestration in agriculture and ecosystem restoration including afforestation and reforestation.^[9] Land use change emissions can be negative.^{[n 2][10]}

According to Science for Policy report in 2023 by the Joint Research Centre (JRC – the European Commission's science and knowledge service) and International Energy Agency (IEA), in 2022, global GHG emissions primarily consisted of CO₂, resulting from the combustion of fossil fuels (71.6%).^[4]

In 2022, CO₂ emissions from the top 10 countries with the highest emissions accounted for almost two thirds of the global total. Since 2006, China has been emitting more CO₂ than any other country.^[11][12][13] However, the main advantage of measuring total national emissions per capita is that it does take population size into account. China has the largest CO₂ emissions in the world, but also the largest population. For a fair comparison, emissions should be analyzed in terms of the amount of CO₂ per capita.^[14] Considering CO₂ per capita emissions in 2022, China's levels (8.85) are almost half those of the United States (14.44) and less than a sixth of those of Palau (59.00 – the country with the highest emissions of CO₂ per capita).^[15][4]

Measures of territorial-based emissions, also known as production-based emissions, do not account for emissions embedded in global trade, where emissions may be imported or exported in the form of traded goods, as it only reports emissions emitted within geographical boundaries. Accordingly, a proportion of the CO₂ produced and reported in Asia and Africa is for the production of goods consumed in Europe and North America.^[16]

Greenhouse gases (GHG) – primarily carbon dioxide but also others, including methane and chlorofluorocarbons – trap heat in the atmosphere, leading to global warming. Higher temperatures then act on the climate, with varying effects. For example, dry regions might become drier while, at the poles, the ice caps are melting, causing higher sea levels. In 2016, the global average temperature was already 1.1 °C above pre-industrial levels.^[17]

According to the review of the scientific literature conducted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), carbon dioxide is the most important anthropogenic greenhouse gas by warming contribution.^[18] The other major anthropogenic greenhouse gases^{[n 3][19]: 147 [20]}) are not included in the following list, nor are humans emissions of water vapor (H₂O), the most important greenhouse gases, as they are negligible compared to naturally occurring quantities.^[21]