Countries by Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from Power Industry (Energy) (Mt CO2e)
China tops the ranking of CO2 emissions from power industry with 6,577.95 Mt CO2e, more than four times the second-ranked country, India, at 1,506.83 Mt CO2e. At the bottom, Albania and Nepal both register exactly zero, while Costa Rica records just 0.0041 Mt CO2e. The gap between first and last illustrates the extreme concentration of power-sector emissions among a small number of large economies.
Ranking 2024
Analysis
This metric measures annual CO2 emissions from the power industry sector across 194 countries, expressed in megatonnes of CO2 equivalent (Mt CO2e). According to the source definition, it covers 'annual emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), one of the six Kyoto greenhouse gases (GHG), from electricity and heat generation (subsector of the energy sector) including IPCC 2006 code 1.A.1.a,' standardized 'using the Global Warming Potential (GWP) factors of IPCC's 5th Assessment Report (AR5).' The indicator covers only the electricity and heat generation subsector and does not capture transport, industry, agriculture, or other energy uses. Data are sourced from the World Bank World Development Indicators (indicator code EN.GHG.CO2.PI.MT.CE.AR5), with 194 countries reporting for data year 2024, representing 100% recency within the last seven years and 100% official data quality. The viability checks identified 22 extreme outliers at the 3-sigma threshold, and the value range spans from 0.00 to 6,577.95, a spread exceeding 999%.
The top of the ranking is heavily concentrated. China (rank 1) records 6,577.95 Mt CO2e, a value that exceeds the combined totals of the next several largest emitters. India (rank 2) and the United States (rank 3) are nearly tied at 1,506.83 and 1,488.46 Mt CO2e respectively, followed by the Russian Federation (rank 4) at 852.29 Mt CO2e and Japan (rank 5) at 432.37 Mt CO2e. Indonesia (rank 6, 350.52 Mt CO2e) and Saudi Arabia (rank 7, 278.50 Mt CO2e) round out the upper tier. High absolute values in this ranking generally correspond to large economies with substantial electricity generation capacity, large populations, or heavy reliance on coal and other fossil fuels in their power mix.
The middle of the ranking shows a wide spread. Germany (rank 12) at 171.40 Mt CO2e and Australia (rank 13) at 163.10 Mt CO2e rank ahead of Mexico (rank 14, 155.05 Mt CO2e) and Turkiye (rank 15, 140.91 Mt CO2e). Notably, France (rank 46) records only 22.11 Mt CO2e despite being a major economy, far below Spain (rank 37, 30.93 Mt CO2e) and Italy (rank 24, 69.16 Mt CO2e). Norway (rank 114) records just 1.60 Mt CO2e. At the lower end of the ranking, countries such as Iceland (rank 188, 0.0067 Mt CO2e), Costa Rica (rank 189, 0.0041 Mt CO2e), and the Democratic Republic of Congo (rank 190, 0.0039 Mt CO2e) post near-zero values. Ethiopia (rank 191) records 0.0022 Mt CO2e and Paraguay (rank 192) records 0.0013 Mt CO2e, while Albania (rank 193) and Nepal (rank 193) both report exactly zero.
Several data limitations apply to this metric. The indicator captures only CO2 from electricity and heat generation and excludes other greenhouse gases and other energy subsectors, so it does not represent a country's total climate footprint. Absolute values favour large countries by population and landmass; no per-capita or intensity normalization is applied here. Reporting methodologies can vary across countries, and while 100% of data points are classified as official, the accuracy of national inventories depends on each country's statistical capacity. The presence of 22 extreme outliers at the 3-sigma level reflects genuine concentration at the top of the distribution rather than data errors, but users should exercise caution when comparing large and small economies directly.
Methodology
Data are drawn from the World Bank World Development Indicators, indicator code EN.GHG.CO2.PI.MT.CE.AR5, for data year 2024. The metric is defined as: 'a measure of annual emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), one of the six Kyoto greenhouse gases (GHG), from electricity and heat generation (subsector of the energy sector) including IPCC 2006 code 1.A.1.a. The measure is standardized to carbon dioxide equivalent values using the Global Warming Potential (GWP) factors of IPCC's 5th Assessment Report (AR5).' The ranking covers 194 countries. All 194 countries have data from within the last seven years (100% recency), and 100% of data points are classified as official, exceeding the 70% quality threshold. The viability checks identified 22 extreme outliers using a 3-sigma threshold, consistent with the heavy concentration of emissions at the top of the distribution. The value range runs from 0.00 to 6,577.95 Mt CO2e, a spread of more than 999%. Average year-over-year change is 11.9%, well below the 50% volatility threshold. Values represent absolute Mt CO2e totals and are not normalized by population, GDP, or generation capacity.