Data / Rankings / Fossil CO2 emissions / Countries

Countries by fossil CO2 emissions

China had the highest fossil CO2 emissions of 215 countries in 2020, at 10,896.5 million tonnes of CO2. Christmas Island had the lowest, at 0 million tonnes of CO2. The median was 9.4 million tonnes of CO2 and the figure for the World was 35,158.2 million tonnes of CO2. Source: Global Carbon Project.

Highest10,896.5China
Lowest0Christmas Island
Median9.4215 countries
World35,158.2History

Top 40 countries, 2020

China: 10,896.5 million tonnes of CO2China10,896.5United States: 4,690 million tonnes of CO2United States4,690India: 2,422.7 million tonnes of CO2India2,422.7Russia: 1,631.9 million tonnes of CO2Russia1,631.9Japan: 1,037.3 million tonnes of CO2Japan1,037.3Iran: 745.6 million tonnes of CO2Iran745.6Saudi Arabia: 653.6 million tonnes of CO2Saudi Arabia653.6Germany: 647.2 million tonnes of CO2Germany647.2Indonesia: 623.3 million tonnes of CO2Indonesia623.3South Korea: 597.6 million tonnes of CO2South Korea597.6Canada: 524.2 million tonnes of CO2Canada524.2Brazil: 448 million tonnes of CO2Brazil448South Africa: 435.3 million tonnes of CO2South Africa435.3Mexico: 428.9 million tonnes of CO2Mexico428.9Türkiye: 416.3 million tonnes of CO2Türkiye416.3Australia: 398.5 million tonnes of CO2Australia398.5Vietnam: 362.6 million tonnes of CO2Vietnam362.6United Kingdom: 326.3 million tonnes of CO2United Kingdom326.3Italy: 302.6 million tonnes of CO2Italy302.6Poland: 302.1 million tonnes of CO2Poland302.1Kazakhstan: 281.8 million tonnes of CO2Kazakhstan281.8France: 281.5 million tonnes of CO2France281.5Taiwan: 272.5 million tonnes of CO2Taiwan272.5Thailand: 271.9 million tonnes of CO2Thailand271.9Malaysia: 262.2 million tonnes of CO2Malaysia262.2Egypt: 246.3 million tonnes of CO2Egypt246.3Pakistan: 215.5 million tonnes of CO2Pakistan215.5United Arab Emirates: 215.3 million tonnes of CO2United Arab Emirates215.3Spain: 211.8 million tonnes of CO2Spain211.8Ukraine: 207.1 million tonnes of CO2Ukraine207.1Iraq: 172.1 million tonnes of CO2Iraq172.1Algeria: 171.1 million tonnes of CO2Algeria171.1Argentina: 164.6 million tonnes of CO2Argentina164.6Netherlands: 137 million tonnes of CO2Netherlands137Philippines: 131.5 million tonnes of CO2Philippines131.5Nigeria: 124.9 million tonnes of CO2Nigeria124.9Uzbekistan: 108.1 million tonnes of CO2Uzbekistan108.1Qatar: 101.3 million tonnes of CO2Qatar101.3Bangladesh: 95.7 million tonnes of CO2Bangladesh95.7Colombia: 92.3 million tonnes of CO2Colombia92.3
million tonnes of CO2. Source: Global Carbon Project, Global Carbon Project fossil CO2 emissions dataset: total fossil CO2 emissions, million tonnes of CO2. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCountries2020
million tonnes of CO2		Change on 2019
1China10,896.5+1.7%
2United States4,690-10.4%
3India2,422.7-7.2%
4Russia1,631.9-4.3%
5Japan1,037.3-5.9%
6Iran745.6+2.5%
7Saudi Arabia653.6-7.7%
8Germany647.2-8.7%
9Indonesia623.3-6.3%
10South Korea597.6-7.5%
11Canada524.2-9.5%
12Brazil448-6%
13South Africa435.3-7.5%
14Mexico428.9-8.4%
15Türkiye416.3+2.4%
16Australia398.5-3.9%
17Vietnam362.6+6.9%
18United Kingdom326.3-10.6%
19Italy302.6-10.9%
20Poland302.1-4.8%
21Kazakhstan281.8-4.8%
22France281.5-11%
23Taiwan272.5-0.8%
24Thailand271.9-3.5%
25Malaysia262.2-5.6%
26Egypt246.3+5.2%
27Pakistan215.5+12.9%
28United Arab Emirates215.3+5.5%
29Spain211.8-15.5%
30Ukraine207.1-6.8%
31Iraq172.1-10.3%
32Algeria171.1-6.2%
33Argentina164.6-8.8%
34Netherlands137-10.3%
35Philippines131.5-7.8%
36Nigeria124.9-2.3%
37Uzbekistan108.1+0.2%
38Qatar101.3-0.1%
39Bangladesh95.7+1%
40Colombia92.3-6.7%
41Czechia91.7-9.2%
42Belgium91.3-8.6%
43Kuwait90.1-13.9%
44Venezuela80.9-23.3%
45Chile80.2-12.8%
46Romania73.9-3.6%
47Oman71.8-0.3%
48North Korea65.6-5.7%
49Morocco64.5-6.1%
50Turkmenistan62.9+1%
51Austria62.2-8.5%
52Israel59.3+0.6%
53Belarus59.1-4.9%
54Greece55.6-15.5%
55Peru47.2-19.5%
56Hungary47.1-4.2%
57Singapore46.7-4.7%
58Serbia45.4+2.1%
59Mongolia42.5-9.9%
60Portugal41.7-12.3%
61Norway41.3-3.7%
62Finland37.7-11.1%
63Bahrain37.4-0.5%
64Sweden36.6-10.2%
65Bulgaria36.6-13.3%
66Azerbaijan36.2-4%
67Libya36.1-51.1%
68Ireland35.1-5.8%
69Trinidad and Tobago35-14%
70Myanmar34.6+2.9%
71Switzerland34.3-6.7%
72New Zealand34.1-7.1%
73Hong Kong33.5-20%
74Ecuador32.5-19%
75Syria32.3-3.4%
76Slovakia31.2-7.9%
77Tunisia28.8-5.7%
78Denmark28.3-8.6%
79Dominican Republic26.2-7.9%
80Lebanon23.7-5.8%
81Cuba21.3-5.4%
82Cambodia21+12.7%
83Bosnia and Herzegovina20.8+0.1%
84Jordan20.6-16.1%
85Sri Lanka20.4-3.3%
86Kenya20+10.1%
87Sudan19.8-10%
88Ghana19.2+16.7%
89Bolivia18.3-19%
90Laos18.3-0.3%
91Guatemala17.2-10.9%
92Croatia16.9-5.3%
93Ethiopia16.7-2.6%
94Angola16.5-25.5%
95Tanzania16-1.5%
96Nepal15.6+22.6%
97Lithuania13.5-1.1%
98Slovenia12.9-8.4%
99Brunei11.2+16.7%
100Afghanistan11.1+6.9%
101Côte d’Ivoire11+4.6%
102Senegal10.8-14.9%
103Yemen10.8-8.7%
104Georgia10.4-1.3%
105Zambia10+12.9%
106Honduras10-9%
107Cameroon9.7+1.2%
108Tajikistan9.4+8.1%
109Estonia9.2-25.1%
110Zimbabwe8.5-17.3%
111Kyrgyzstan8.3-7.7%
112Luxembourg8.1-17.2%
113Papua New Guinea7.9+4.3%
114Republic of the Congo7.7+5.3%
115Paraguay7.4-10%
116Latvia7-8.3%
117North Macedonia7-8.5%
118Cyprus6.9-5.8%
119Jamaica6.9-27.3%
120Armenia6.8+8.1%
121Costa Rica6.8-11.8%
122Panama6.6-47.3%
123Uruguay6.5+1.1%
124Equatorial Guinea6.4+15.9%
125Mozambique6.3-10.7%
126Mali6.3+13.2%
127Botswana6.2-17.3%
128El Salvador6.1-19.6%
129Gabon5.6+0.5%
130Burkina Faso5.60%
131Uganda5.6-3.3%
132Benin5.5+5.1%
133Moldova5.1-4.9%
134New Caledonia5.1-9.9%
135Albania4.9-1.5%
136Mauritania4.8+3.6%
137Nicaragua4.6-10.9%
138Guinea4.4+7.9%
139Democratic Republic of the Congo4.3+4.5%
140Mauritius3.8-16%
141Madagascar3.8-8.6%
142Namibia3.4-7.8%
143Iceland3.3-6%
144Palestine3.3+1.9%
145Haiti3.3+4.7%
146Guyana3.1+17.2%
147Niger3+21%
148Suriname2.9+11%
149Togo2.8+16.4%
150Montenegro2.4-3%
151Chad2.4+2.5%
152Bahamas2.1-18.6%
153Curaçao2-16.2%
154Lesotho2-9.2%
155Malawi1.9+10.2%
156South Sudan1.7-3.5%
157Maldives1.7-15.8%
158Malta1.6-2.9%
159Rwanda1.4-1.4%
160Fiji1.4-9.2%
161Barbados1.3-9.8%
162Bhutan1.2-22.4%
163Sierra Leone1.2+6.2%
164Somalia1.1+6.5%
165Macao1-14.8%
166Eswatini1-10%
167French Polynesia0.8-6.6%
168Aruba0.8-1.3%
169Liberia0.8-16.6%
170Faroe Islands0.8+2.5%
171Burundi0.7+7.9%
172Gambia0.7-1.5%
173Belize0.7-15.1%
174Sint Maarten0.7-5.3%
175Timor-Leste0.6-4.3%
176Eritrea0.6-0.6%
177Antigua and Barbuda0.6-3.4%
178Seychelles0.6+1.2%
179Greenland0.5+4.4%
180Cape Verde0.5-17.4%
181Saint Lucia0.5-2.9%
182Djibouti0.5-14.3%
183Bermuda0.4-26.5%
184Andorra0.4-23.1%
185Comoros0.4+18.8%
186Turks and Caicos Islands0.4-1%
187Central African Republic0.3+7.1%
188Guinea-Bissau0.3+21.4%
189Solomon Islands0.3-1.2%
190Grenada0.3-13.2%
191Saint Kitts and Nevis0.2-7%
192Saint Vincent and the Grenadines0.2+8.3%
193Samoa0.2-9.9%
194Palau0.2-3.4%
195Vanuatu0.2+24.4%
196British Virgin Islands0.2-2%
197Dominica0.2-8.5%
198Marshall Islands0.10%
199Micronesia0.10%
199São Tomé and Príncipe0.1-2.5%
201Liechtenstein0.1-4.7%
202Tonga0.1-13.6%
203Anguilla0.1-5.1%
204Caribbean Netherlands0.1-5.3%
205Kiribati0.10%
206Cook Islands0.1-18.2%
207Saint Pierre and Miquelon0.1-5.6%
208Nauru0.1+7.1%
209Wallis and Futuna0+14.3%
210Montserrat0-14.3%
211Saint Helena0-25%
211Tuvalu00%
213Niue00%
214Antarctica0n/a
214Christmas Island0n/a

Other periods

About this ranking

Carbon dioxide emitted from fossil sources in the year, in million tonnes of CO2, as estimated by the Global Carbon Project for the Global Carbon Budget. Fossil CO2 covers the burning of coal, oil and gas, gas flaring, cement production and other industrial carbonate use. Emissions are counted in the country where they occur (territorial emissions). International aviation and shipping are left out of country figures and included in the World total. Land use change is not included.

Higher than energy_co2_emissions (EIA), which counts CO2 from energy use only, and lower than greenhouse gas totals, which add methane, nitrous oxide and fluorinated gases. Each annual Global Carbon Budget release revises past years.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the countries are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

Andrew, R. M. and Peters, G. P., The Global Carbon Project's fossil CO2 emissions dataset, Global Carbon Budget (Friedlingstein et al.). Global Carbon Project fossil CO2 emissions dataset: total fossil CO2 emissions, million tonnes of CO2. https://zenodo.org/records/17417124. Retrieved 2026-10-12. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.

Citation styles

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APA 7

Global Carbon Project. (2025). Global Carbon Project fossil CO2 emissions dataset: total fossil CO2 emissions, million tonnes of CO2 (Countries by fossil CO2 emissions, 2020) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://zenodo.org/records/17417124

MLA 9

Global Carbon Project fossil CO2 emissions dataset: total fossil CO2 emissions, million tonnes of CO2, Countries by fossil CO2 emissions, 2020. Global Carbon Project, 22 Oct. 2025, https://zenodo.org/records/17417124. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/fossil-co2-emissions/countries?period=2020. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

Global Carbon Project. 2025. Global Carbon Project fossil CO2 emissions dataset: total fossil CO2 emissions, million tonnes of CO2. Countries by fossil CO2 emissions, 2020. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://zenodo.org/records/17417124. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/fossil-co2-emissions/countries?period=2020.

Harvard

Global Carbon Project (2025) Global Carbon Project fossil CO2 emissions dataset: total fossil CO2 emissions, million tonnes of CO2, Countries by fossil CO2 emissions, 2020 [Dataset]. Available at: https://zenodo.org/records/17417124, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/fossil-co2-emissions/countries?period=2020 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{global_countries_by_fossil_co2_2020,
  author = {{Global Carbon Project}},
  title = {{Global Carbon Project fossil CO2 emissions dataset: total fossil CO2 emissions, million tonnes of CO2: Countries by fossil CO2 emissions, 2020}},
  year = {2025},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://zenodo.org/records/17417124},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/fossil-co2-emissions/countries?period=2020. Publisher attribution: Andrew, R. M. and Peters, G. P., The Global Carbon Project's fossil CO2 emissions dataset, Global Carbon Budget (Friedlingstein et al.). Global Carbon Project fossil CO2 emissions dataset: total fossil CO2 emissions, million tonnes of CO2. https://zenodo.org/records/17417124. Retrieved 2026-10-12. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - Global Carbon Project
TI  - Global Carbon Project fossil CO2 emissions dataset: total fossil CO2 emissions, million tonnes of CO2: Countries by fossil CO2 emissions, 2020
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/10/22
PB  - Global Carbon Project
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://zenodo.org/records/17417124
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/fossil-co2-emissions/countries?period=2020
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/fossil-co2-emissions/countries?period=2020.
N1  - Publisher attribution: Andrew, R. M. and Peters, G. P., The Global Carbon Project's fossil CO2 emissions dataset, Global Carbon Budget (Friedlingstein et al.). Global Carbon Project fossil CO2 emissions dataset: total fossil CO2 emissions, million tonnes of CO2. https://zenodo.org/records/17417124. Retrieved 2026-10-12. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
ER  -
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Questions

Which country has the highest fossil CO2 emissions?

China, with 10,896.5 million tonnes of CO2 in 2020, according to Global Carbon Project.

Which country has the lowest fossil CO2 emissions?

Christmas Island, with 0 million tonnes of CO2 in 2020.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: Global Carbon Project, Global Carbon Project fossil CO2 emissions dataset: total fossil CO2 emissions, million tonnes of CO2. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Fossil CO2 emissions: other rankings

Countries: more rankings