Metric guide
CO2 emissions by country: total emissions tell one story.
Territorial CO2 emissions measure emissions produced within a country’s borders. Total emissions are useful for understanding scale, but they do not answer every climate comparison question.
Per-person emissions, cumulative historical emissions and consumption-based emissions can each tell a different story. Compare Countries starts with the country-level totals currently available in the data catalog.
Reading the distribution
What total territorial emissions emphasize
The three largest territorial emitters contribute about 54% of emissions represented by the available observations. Total-emissions maps therefore emphasize large populations and industrial systems.
A territorial total assigns emissions to where production occurs. A per-person, historical or consumption-based measure asks a different responsibility or intensity question and should not be inferred from this ranking alone.
Where annual territorial emissions are concentrated
Total CO2 emissions rankings emphasize industrial and population scale. For responsibility or intensity questions, compare this with per-person or historical emissions where available.
| Rank | Country | Value | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | People's Republic of China | 12,716 Mt CO₂ | 2024 |
| 2 | United States of America | 4,782 Mt CO₂ | 2024 |
| 3 | India | 2,872 Mt CO₂ | 2024 |
| 4 | Russia | 1,952 Mt CO₂ | 2024 |
| 5 | Japan | 941 Mt CO₂ | 2024 |
| 6 | Indonesia | 887 Mt CO₂ | 2024 |
| 7 | Iran | 776 Mt CO₂ | 2024 |
| 8 | Saudi Arabia | 677 Mt CO₂ | 2024 |
| 9 | South Korea | 644 Mt CO₂ | 2024 |
| 10 | Canada | 601 Mt CO₂ | 2024 |
| 11 | Germany | 576 Mt CO₂ | 2024 |
| 12 | Brazil | 559 Mt CO₂ | 2024 |
Questions this metric can answer
- Compare national territorial emissions totals.
- Build group totals for regions or country blocs.
- Switch to per-person metrics where available to compare intensity rather than total scale.
Interpretation limits
- Territorial emissions do not assign emissions embedded in traded goods to final consumers.
- Large populations and large industrial systems can dominate totals.
- Reference years can differ from other economic or population metrics.
How the emissions boundary is defined
Territorial emissions are assigned to the country where the emissions occur and are expressed as an annual mass of carbon dioxide. Covered country totals can be summed for a regional or group view.
The boundary does not reassign emissions embodied in imports and exports. Reference years can also differ from the economic data used in another comparison, so the year remains visible.
Test the pattern on the map
Open the live map with Territorial CO2 emissions selected. Click countries, build groups or switch to another metric while keeping the same selection. For a guided starting point, read the G7 and BRICS emissions example.
Source, year and coverage
Source: International Energy Statistics. Coverage in this snapshot: 212 countries out of 242. Reference year: 2024.
International oil, gas and electricity production. Reuse note: EIA U.S. government data and information products are public domain. Retain source/date acknowledgement and do not reuse EIA logos or protected third-party material.
Interpretation reviewed against the displayed snapshot on 26 September 2026. Corrections: contact@compare-countries.com.