Countries by Total CO2 Emissions
Complete ranking of 203 countries • Mt CO2e • Data refreshed May 28, 2026
Leader
China
Field size
203 countries
Lowest rank
Tuvalu
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About Total CO2 Emissions Rankings
China leads all 203 countries in Total CO2 Emissions with a value of 13.1K Mt CO2e, while Tuvalu ranks last at 0 Mt CO2e. The gap between top and bottom reflects meaningful global variation.
What Total CO2 Emissions Measures
Total carbon dioxide emissions excluding LULUCF from the World Bank latest available country value.
Why This Ranking Matters
Examining Total CO2 Emissions across all countries reveals patterns that might not be obvious at the national level. Regional clusters, outlier nations, and historical trajectories all become clearer when the full global picture is assembled in a single ranking.
Global Range
Values range from 0 Mt CO2e (Tuvalu) to 13.1K Mt CO2e (China) — an infinitely large difference across 203 countries.
Regional Patterns
Asian countries lead with 9 entries in the top 20, though representation spans multiple continents. Regional factors clearly play a role, but outliers from other parts of the world show that national policy and geography matter as much as continental trends.
The distribution is highly right-skewed — a few countries have exceptionally high values that pull the average well above the median. The median (12.29 Mt CO2e) is far more representative than the mean (187.08 Mt CO2e).
Notable Outliers
China stands far above the rest, with a value 183% higher than second-place United States. This extraordinary lead suggests unique national circumstances — geographic scale, resource endowment, or policy choices — that set it apart from even its closest competitors. The bottom five countries are all from Oceania, pointing to regional challenges that affect total co2 emissions across the continent.
Continental Leaders
Highest Total CO2 Emissions
The 5 strongest Total CO2 Emissions reads.
Lowest Total CO2 Emissions
The 5 lowest Total CO2 Emissions reads.
Data Note
Rankings are based on the latest available data from World Bank Open Data, covering 203 of 249 countries and territories. Countries without data for this metric are excluded from the ranking. All values represent the most recently reported figures.
