2024 Worldwide Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions
2024 Worldwide GHG Emissions, visualized in a variwide chart;
based on JRC/IEA Report “GHG Emissions of All World Countries 2025“;
click image to enlarge; click here to download a PDF

Global Anthropogenic Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions Resumed Growth in 2024

Worldwide Greenhouse Gas emissions resumed growth in 2024, increasing by 1.3% over 2023 levels to reach 53.2 Gt CO2eq. This increase was due mainly to emission growth in Russia and Asia (China, India, Indonesia), and Africa, while Europe reduced their emissions. Population growth accounted for 1.0% of the increase, while higher per capita emissions added another 0.3%.

One Planet, Many Emissions: The Great GHG Divide

In 2024, the global average per capita greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions rose by 0.3% to 6.6 t CO2eq. A stark division persists, with half of the world’s population emitting less than 4.7 t per capita—significantly lower than the global average. This disparity emphasizes the uneven distribution of emissions, exemplified by Germany’s per capita emissions of 8.2 t, which exceeds the global average by 25% and the median by 74%.

Qatar vs. Yemen: The Extreme Ends of Emissions

Per capita emissions diverge widely across regions. Qatar tops developed nations with 53 t per capita, while countries like Yemen emit as little as 1 t. Within the OECD, Americans and Canadians emit about 18 t per capita, 2.5 times more than their European counterparts, who average 7.1 t. At 11 t, China surpasses the global average, placing its emissions level significantly above Europe’s.

France vs. Germany: Nuclear Power vs. Fossil Fuels in GHG Race

Adjacent countries also demonstrate sharp contrasts in emissions. Germany’s 8.2 t per capita outpaces France’s 5.7 t, echoing disparities in energy strategies—nuclear reliance in France versus Germany’s unrelenting use of oil, coal, and gas.

Economic Development within the Net-zero Framework and Honoring Planetary Boundaries

Regions like India, South America, and Africa remain below the global average in per capita emissions, but their speedy economic and demographic growth is elevating their emissions. A rise in these countries’ per capita emissions to the global average would increase worldwide emissions by 33%. To secure a sustainable future, such growth must align with achieving net-zero targets while respecting planetary boundaries globally.

by Thomas Schulz and Mariana Bozesan, AQAL Foundation, Munich

How to understand the variwide chart

This type of visualization answers immediately questions like

  • “Which countries are the largest GHG emitters?”
  • “How significant is the spread between per capita emissions in different countries?”
  • “Which countries are reducing their GHG emissions?”
  • “Which countries are still increasing their GHG emissions?”
  • What are the world’s average per capita GHG emissions (arithmetic mean)?
  • What are the GHG emissions of the average human (arithmetic median)?

The variwide chart allows the visualization of a multitude of data dimensions in one easy-to-read diagram. These data dimensions are: 

  1. Individual country data, such as China, South Africa, or the USA, or a group of countries such as the Middle East or Africa,
  2. Population by country or group of countries, 
  3. Per capita GHG emissions, and 
  4. GHG emissions growth year-over-year

The total GHG emissions of a region are represented as a rectangular area. The height of each rectangle is proportional to the GHG emissions per capita and the width is proportional to the population of the represented region. The regions are sorted by GHG emissions per capita, from the highest to the lowest.

The per capita emission average is indicated by the horizontal line, the median by the dotted horizontal line.

The colors of the rectangles indicate their year-over-year growth rate: “heating up” is represented from light red to dark red, and “cooling down” goes from light blue to dark blue.

Note:

This year, we have switched our data source from IEA to EDGAR, which gives us more comprehensive and more current data, available publicly for free. Now, the GHG emissions include emissions from the power industry, industrial combustion and processes, buildings, transport, fuel exploration, agriculture, and waste. Not included are emissions from land use, land-use change, and forestry (LULUCF). Greenhouse gases are comprised of CO2, CH4, N2O and F-gases.

We are using the latest available data from the EDGAR (Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research) Community GHG Database, a collaboration between the European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), the International Energy Agency (IEA), and comprising IEA-EDGAR CO2, EDGAR CH4, EDGAR N2O, EDGAR F-GASES version EDGAR_2025_GHG (2025) European Commission, JRC (Datasets).

Reference: Crippa, M., Guizzardi, D., Pagani, F., Banja, M., Muntean, M. et al., GHG emissions of all world countries – 2025 Report, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 2025, doi:10.2760/9816914, JRC143227.

2024 Worldwide GHG Emissions (per capita; by region; growth), variwide chart by Thomas Schulz is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

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