World carbon emissions, by country: can the Copenhagen climate summit bring these down?

The Copenhagen climate change summit has started. Now, the US is no longer number one emitter of carbon dioxide, having been overtaken by China in these latest figures. But when did it happen?
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Copenhagen summit: Carbon emissions around the world. Click image for bigger picture. Scroll down page for pdf

The Csummit is finally here - and Copenhagen is likely to be a historic moment, whatever the result.

The background to the Copnehagen summit is the amount of carbon we're pumping out into the atmosphere. These are the figures, and the latest visualisation we've produced.

Which country is number one in carbon emissions? Up until very recently, it was the US - now, it is indisputedly China, as shown by this data.

These are the latest figures - up to 2007 - from the respected US Energy Information Administration. This has (literally) every country in the world on it and its emissions going back to 1980 — plus we've put on some handy percentage change data and ranking information.

The curious thing is, we've been here before. Last year we reported that China had overtaken the US in 2006. But if you look at the figures below, the change now appears to have happened in 2007. What's going on?

We asked the EIA and this is what they said:

Each year we review the underlying consumption data for petroleum, natural gas, and coal and the flaring data for natural gas and make any necessary revisions. These, in turn, affect our CO2 emissions estimates. I think that most of the change for China was due to revisions to our coal consumption data. Coal consumption is a calculated value based on production, imports, exports, and stock change and when measured in Btus is also affected by the types of coal consumed (i.e. anthracite, bituminous, and lignite). Data for the most recent year are often preliminary and most subject to revision but data for earlier years are also often revised.

Of course, these aren't all emissions - just consumption of engergy, which accounts for 60% of the total. But they give a good picture of what is going on.

Because of the interest, the EIA are going to come up with 2008 figures at the end of this year or early 2010. Then we will see exactly how fast China has grown. In the meantime, as we countdown to Copenhagen, these figures will become even more important.

Download the pdf

Carbon Emissions

We've added in the %-change since 1990 - the Kyoto benchmark. What can you do with the numbers?

Download the full data

DATA: World emissions since 1980, by country

Can you do something with this data?

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Summary table

Carbon emissions from consumption of energy

Click heading to sort. Million tonnes of CO2
ID
2007 RANK
2006 RANK
CHANGE IN RANK
COUNTRY/ REGION
2007
% change, 1990-07
Per capita emissions, 2007, tonnes

SOURCE: EIA
1       North America 7050.95 21.3 15.9
2 179 179 SAME Bermuda 0.66 -0.0 9.8
3 7 7 SAME Canada 589.9 24.3 17.9
4 180 180 SAME Greenland 0.63   10.9
5 13 13 SAME Mexico 452.96 49.8 4.2
6 211 211 SAME Saint Pierre and Miquelon 0.09 -66.1 12.5
7 2 1 DOWN United States 6006.71 19.3 19.9
8       Central & South America 1193.56 66.5 2.6
9 197 197 SAME Antarctica 0.26 25.4 NA
10 178 177 DOWN Antigua and Barbuda 0.66 55.9 7.9
11 29 28 DOWN Argentina 165.91 61.6 4.1
12 165 165 SAME Aruba 1.07 79.3 10.6
13 123 122 DOWN Bahamas, The 5.09 70.2 16.8
14 159 158 DOWN Barbados 1.38 6.1 4.9
15 170 170 SAME Belize 0.98 213.3 3.3
16 92 93 DOWN Bolivia 13.54 167.1 1.4
17 17 17 SAME Brazil 397.56 67.3 2.1
18 184 184 SAME Cayman Islands 0.48 74.3 10.2
19 50 48 DOWN Chile 64.55 102.0 4.0
20 51 52 UP Colombia 64.14 54.6 1.5
21 114 114 SAME Costa Rica 6.83 149.2 1.6
22 78 77 DOWN Cuba 25.14 -29.0 2.2
23 207 206 DOWN Dominica 0.12 103.7 1.6
24 85 85 SAME Dominican Republic 18.82 107.7 2.0
25 76 76 SAME Ecuador 27.55 82.6 1.9
26 116 116 SAME El Salvador 6.41 168.0 0.9
27 214 214 SAME Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) 0.05 81.6 NA
28 164 166 DOWN French Guiana 1.12 63.9 NA
29 194 196 DOWN Grenada 0.3 141.8 3.3
30 151 152 DOWN Guadeloupe 2.21 53.2 NA
31 99 100 DOWN Guatemala 11.94 215.5 0.9
32 157 157 SAME Guyana 1.62 140.6 2.1
33 155 155 SAME Haiti 1.82 144.9 0.2
34 109 108 DOWN Honduras 7.85 188.0 1.0
35 94 95 DOWN Jamaica 13.09 73.7 4.7
36 147 147 SAME Martinique 2.46 56.7 NA
37 212 212 SAME Montserrat 0.08 120.9 18.5
38 97 98 DOWN Netherlands Antilles 12.46 27.8 55.7
39 124 125 DOWN Nicaragua 4.85 141.2 0.9
40 89 89 SAME Panama 14.78 25.3 4.5
41 133 133 SAME Paraguay 3.83 74.3 0.6
42 74 74 SAME Peru 32.42 61.3 1.1
43 71 71 SAME Puerto Rico 36.57 80.8 9.3
44 202 203 DOWN Saint Kitts and Nevis 0.2 196.2 5.0
45 187 187 SAME Saint Lucia 0.38 129.7 2.4
46 201 201 SAME Saint Vincent/Grenadines 0.2 154.5 1.9
47 152 153 DOWN Suriname 2.07 37.4 4.4
48 62 62 SAME Trinidad and Tobago 47.03 158.6 38.1
49 217 216 DOWN Turks and Caicos Islands 0.01   0.6
50 110 111 DOWN Uruguay 7.5 66.6 2.2
51 27 31 UP Venezuela 171.67 56.4 6.6
52 88 87 DOWN Virgin Islands, U.S. 16.48 121.0 150.0
53 210 209 DOWN Virgin Islands, British 0.1 104.2 4.4
54       Europe 4690.43 2.5 7.9
55 125 126 DOWN Albania 4.65 -23.8 1.3
56 46 47 UP Austria 72.74 30.3 8.9
57 33 32 DOWN Belgium 144.16 14.7 13.9
58 84 82 DOWN Bosnia and Herzegovina 18.87   4.1
59 61 58 DOWN Bulgaria 50.63 -33.8 6.9
60 77 78 DOWN Croatia 25.38   5.6
61 105 104 DOWN Cyprus 9.54 87.4 9.1
62 38 39 UP Czech Republic 103.24   10.1
63 55 53 DOWN Denmark 57.05 -0.5 10.4
64 174 173 DOWN Faroe Islands 0.8   16.5
65 53 55 UP Finland 57.53 7.7 11.0
66       Former Czechoslovakia --   --
67 69 66 DOWN Former Serbia and Montenegro 38.97 -3.9 3.9
68       Former Yugoslavia --   --
69 16 15 DOWN France 405.06 -2.9 6.4
70 6 6 SAME Germany 835.13 -2.2 10.1
71       Germany, East --   --
72       Germany, West --   --
73 128 128 SAME Gibraltar 4.55 1.5 159.1
74 36 36 SAME Greece 107.86 1.8 10.1
75 56 54 DOWN Hungary 57 -2.8 5.7
76 134 134 SAME Iceland 3.49 3.7 11.6
77 64 63 DOWN Ireland 44.74 -2.6 10.9
78 11 11 SAME Italy 460.8 -1.7 7.9
79 98 96 DOWN Luxembourg 12.18 -2.3 25.4
80 107 107 SAME Macedonia 8.35 4.5 4.1
81 136 138 DOWN Malta 3.1 5.3 7.7
82 185 185 SAME Montenegro 0.46 3.8 --
83 24 23 DOWN Netherlands 261.46 -5.4 15.8
84 66 67 DOWN Norway 42.31 5.6 9.1
85 22 20 DOWN Poland 301.71 0.1 7.8
86 52 51 DOWN Portugal 61.13 -0.8 5.7
87 39 38 DOWN Romania 103.12 2.6 4.6
88 93 91 DOWN Serbia 13.51 1.1 --
89 70 72 DOWN Slovakia 38.52 1.8 7.1
90 87 86 DOWN Slovenia 17.28 -1.0 8.6
91 18 18 SAME Spain 383.21 1.7 9.5
92 57 56 DOWN Sweden 56.86 0.1 6.3
93 65 64 DOWN Switzerland 43.81 -3.7 5.8
94 23 24 UP Turkey 277.2 10.1 3.7
95 8 8 SAME United Kingdom 564.02 -3.8 9.3
96       Eurasia 2609.01 0.9 9.2
97 101 101 SAME Armenia 11.22 8.4 3.8
98 73 68 DOWN Azerbaijan 35.69 -10.9 4.4
99 48 50 UP Belarus 68.55 3.2 7.0
100 80 84 DOWN Estonia 21.28 13.5 16.2
101       Former U.S.S.R. --   --
102 121 124 DOWN Georgia 5.56 13.6 1.2
103 26 26 SAME Kazakhstan 216.4 1.9 14.2
104 118 119 DOWN Kyrgyzstan 5.68 3.4 1.1
105 104 105 DOWN Latvia 9.78 5.5 4.3
106 86 88 DOWN Lithuania 17.63 6.5 4.9
107 108 109 DOWN Moldova 7.86 3.0 1.8
108 3 3 SAME Russia 1672.62 -0.4 11.8
109 115 110 DOWN Tajikistan 6.77 -9.6 1.0
110 59 61 UP Turkmenistan 53.13 6.3 11.1
111 19 19 SAME Ukraine 354.39 5.4 7.7
112 35 35 SAME Uzbekistan 122.46 1.4 4.5
113       Middle East 1569.38 4.6 8.0
114 75 75 SAME Bahrain 29.11 4.6 41.0
115 10 10 SAME Iran 490.29 3.0 7.5
116 41 41 SAME Iraq 95.91 4.4 3.5
117 49 49 SAME Israel 68.41 -0.5 9.8
118 81 81 SAME Jordan 21.07 5.1 3.5
119 43 44 UP Kuwait 78.49 1.5 31.3
120 90 90 SAME Lebanon 13.86 3.4 3.5
121 72 73 DOWN Oman 36.35 2.2 11.3
122 139 140 DOWN Palestine 3 3.6 0.8
123 54 57 UP Qatar 57.51 3.3 70.6
124 15 16 UP Saudi Arabia 433.93 6.8 15.7
125 60 60 SAME Syria 51.03 -0.1 2.5
126 28 29 UP United Arab Emirates 170.92 10.0 38.5
127 83 83 SAME Yemen 19.51 2.8 0.9
128       Africa 1090.89 2.3 1.2
129 40 40 SAME Algeria 100.95 6.6 3.0
130 79 80 DOWN Angola 22.1 3.9 1.8
131 137 137 SAME Benin 3.04 1.0 0.4
132 129 127 DOWN Botswana 4.47 -1.9 2.3
133 161 161 SAME Burkina Faso 1.27 1.8 0.1
134 188 188 SAME Burundi 0.38 5.6 0.0
135 111 112 DOWN Cameroon 7.48 1.7 0.4
136 195 194 DOWN Cape Verde 0.29 0.8 0.7
137 189 189 SAME Central African Republic 0.34 4.4 0.1
138 198 199 DOWN Chad 0.24 8.2 0.0
139 206 207 DOWN Comoros 0.12 4.4 0.2
140 120 118 DOWN Congo (Brazzaville) 5.6 0.7 1.5
141 148 146 DOWN Congo (Kinshasa) 2.41 -2.6 0.0
142 113 115 DOWN Cote dIvoire (IvoryCoast) 6.85 7.3 0.3
143 156 156 SAME Djibouti 1.76 4.7 2.5
144 30 30 SAME Egypt 159.81 4.6 2.1
145 127 123 DOWN Equatorial Guinea 4.56 -7.0 7.6
146 176 176 SAME Eritrea 0.77 2.8 0.1
147 122 121 DOWN Ethiopia 5.35 3.8 0.1
148 130 129 DOWN Gabon 4.31 -3.6 3.0
149 191 190 DOWN Gambia, The 0.34 3.4 0.2
150 112 113 DOWN Ghana 6.97 4.3 0.3
151 158 159 DOWN Guinea 1.41 2.6 0.1
152 186 186 SAME Guinea-Bissau 0.41 6.1 0.3
153 100 99 DOWN Kenya 11.68 3.2 0.3
154 199 198 DOWN Lesotho 0.24 3.0 0.1
155 181 181 SAME Liberia 0.62 1.4 0.2
156 58 59 UP Libya 53.88 2.7 8.9
157 146 145 DOWN Madagascar 2.6 4.3 0.1
158 168 169 DOWN Malawi 1.05 3.4 0.1
159 177 178 DOWN Mali 0.7 6.8 0.1
160 140 141 DOWN Mauritania 2.91 2.8 1.0
161 131 131 SAME Mauritius 4.18 2.9 3.3
162 68 70 DOWN Morocco 39.06 2.2 1.3
163 150 142 DOWN Mozambique 2.3 -17.6 0.1
164 138 139 DOWN Namibia 3.03 4.6 1.5
165 162 162 SAME Niger 1.27 2.0 0.1
166 37 37 SAME Nigeria 103.47 0.3 0.7
167 142 143 DOWN Reunion 2.78 1.4 NA
168 171 171 SAME Rwanda 0.86 3.1 0.1
169 216 217 DOWN Saint Helena 0.01 25.4 1.9
170 208 208 SAME Sao Tome and Principe 0.11 3.4 0.6
171 117 117 SAME Senegal 5.88 -0.4 0.5
172 169 163 DOWN Seychelles 1.03 -13.8 12.1
173 163 164 DOWN Sierra Leone 1.18 3.3 0.2
174 175 174 DOWN Somalia 0.79 3.7 0.1
175 14 12 DOWN South Africa 452.28 1.4 9.4
176 96 97 DOWN Sudan 12.47 0.7 0.3
177 167 167 SAME Swaziland 1.05 -2.7 0.8
178 119 120 DOWN Tanzania 5.68 3.8 0.1
179 144 148 DOWN Togo 2.62 12.4 0.5
180 82 79 DOWN Tunisia 20.26 -4.8 2.0
181 154 154 SAME Uganda 1.93 0.9 0.1
182 196 195 DOWN Western Sahara 0.28 5.7 0.7
183 145 144 DOWN Zambia 2.6 1.3 0.2
184 102 102 SAME Zimbabwe 10.83 6.4 0.9
185       Asia & Oceania 11710.01 6.1 3.2
186 172 175 DOWN Afghanistan 0.83 8.9 0.0
187 182 182 SAME American Samoa 0.61 1.4 9.5
188 12 14 UP Australia 456.36 9.2 22.0
189 63 65 UP Bangladesh 45.56 5.2 0.3
190 192 191 DOWN Bhutan 0.32 1.4 0.5
191 103 103 SAME Brunei 10.2 3.5 27.2
192 91 94 DOWN Burma (Myanmar) 13.66 7.3 0.3
193 132 132 SAME Cambodia 3.92 1.7 0.3
194 1 2 UP China 6283.56 7.2 4.8
195 213 213 SAME Cook Islands 0.08 1.0 5.9
196 143 150 DOWN Fiji 2.71 17.7 2.9
197 166 168 DOWN French Polynesia 1.05 3.0 3.8
198 153 151 DOWN Guam 2.06 -8.6 11.9
199       Hawaiian Trade Zone --   --
200 42 43 UP Hong Kong 82.93 3.0 11.9
201 4 4 SAME India 1400.71 8.7 1.2
202 20 22 UP Indonesia 318.54 9.5 1.4
203 5 5 SAME Japan 1262.39 0.7 9.9
204 215 215 SAME Kiribati 0.04 7.4 0.4
205 47 45 DOWN Korea, North 69.44 -9.2 3.1
206 9 9 SAME Korea, South 515.98 6.1 10.7
207 183 183 SAME Laos 0.6 2.7 0.1
208 149 149 SAME Macau 2.35 2.2 4.5
209 31 27 DOWN Malaysia 157.71 -0.8 6.4
210 173 172 DOWN Maldives 0.81 -2.0 2.2
211 106 106 SAME Mongolia 9.09 6.0 3.1
212 204 204 SAME Nauru 0.19 7.2 13.7
213 135 135 SAME Nepal 3.42 7.9 0.1
214 141 136 DOWN New Caledonia 2.8 -7.1 12.6
215 67 69 DOWN New Zealand 39.23 -2.0 9.5
216 218 218 SAME Niue 0 -2.1 NA
217 34 34 SAME Pakistan 138.4 2.1 0.8
218 126 130 DOWN Papua New Guinea 4.59 6.8 0.8
219 45 46 UP Philippines 76.09 1.5 0.8
220 205 205 SAME Samoa 0.18 8.6 0.8
221 32 33 UP Singapore 154.17 10.0 33.9
222 200 200 SAME Solomon Islands 0.22 13.4 0.4
223 95 92 DOWN Sri Lanka 13.07 2.0 0.6
224 21 21 SAME Taiwan 307.89 3.1 13.5
225 25 25 SAME Thailand 248.15 4.4 3.8
226 190 192 DOWN Timor-Leste (East Timor) 0.34 9.0 0.3
227 203 202 DOWN Tonga 0.19 6.5 1.7
228 193 193 SAME U.S. Pacific Islands 0.3 0.5 1.2
229 209 210 DOWN Vanuatu 0.1 7.1 0.5
230 44 42 DOWN Vietnam 77.88 -6.3 0.9
231 160 160 SAME Wake Island 1.28 1.1 NA
232       World 29914.24 3.1 4.5

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Carbon emissions graphic

Copenhagen summit: Carbon emissions around the world. Click image for bigger picture. Scroll down page for pdf