How have CO₂ emissions per capita changed?
Fossil fuel burning is the primary source of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and the primary greenhouse gas causing climate change. Globally, CO2 emissions have remained at just below 5 tonnes per person for over a decade. However, there are large differences between countries, and while emissions are rapidly increasing in some countries, they are rapidly falling in others.
The source for this CO2 data is the Global Carbon Budget, a dataset we update yearly as soon as it is published. In addition to these production-based emissions, they publish consumption-based emissions for the last three decades, which can be viewed in our Greenhouse Gas Emissions Data Explorer.
What you should know about this indicator
- Per capita emissions represent the emissions of an average person in a country or region—they are calculated as the total emissions divided by the population.
- This data is based on territorial emissions, which do not account for emissions embedded in traded goods.
- International aviation and shipping emissions are not included in any country or region’s emissions. They are only included in the global total emissions.
- Annual total carbon dioxide emissions (CO₂), excluding land-use change, measured in tonnes per person.
Source:
Global Carbon Budget (2024); Population based on various sources (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Comments are closed.