Countries by Carbon intensity of GDP (kg CO2e per 2021 PPP $ of GDP)
Palau ranks 1st in carbon intensity of GDP with a value of 4.80 kg CO2e per 2021 PPP dollar, a figure more than six times higher than the second-ranked country, Libya, at 0.69. At the other end, Nauru and Tuvalu both record a value of exactly 0, tied at rank 190. The 191-country spread from 0 to 4.80 reflects the wide variation in how much CO2 emissions different economies produce per unit of economic output.
Ranking 2024
Analysis
This metric measures the carbon intensity of economic output across 191 countries. According to the source definition, it captures annual emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), one of the six Kyoto greenhouse gases (GHG), from the agriculture, energy, waste, and industrial sectors, excluding LULUCF, divided by the GDP in 2021 PPP $. The unit is kilograms of CO2e per 2021 PPP dollar of GDP, where a higher value indicates greater emissions per unit of output. Land use, land-use change, and forestry (LULUCF) emissions are explicitly excluded. Data covers 191 countries, all with values from within the last seven years, and 100% of datapoints are classified as official quality. Nine extreme outliers were identified using a 3-sigma threshold, and average year-over-year change is 6.0%.
Palau (rank 1, 4.80) sits far above all other countries, flagged as an extreme outlier in the data. The next highest values cluster among fossil-fuel-producing and fossil-fuel-dependent economies: Libya (rank 2, 0.69), Trinidad and Tobago (rank 3, 0.61), Turkmenistan (rank 4, 0.58), Iran (rank 5, 0.52), Kuwait (rank 6, 0.51), and Oman (rank 7, 0.51). South Africa (rank 8, 0.51) and Mongolia (rank 9, 0.47) also appear near the top, alongside Qatar (rank 10, 0.43) and Iraq (rank 11, 0.41). The top of the ranking is dominated by oil and gas producers and coal-dependent economies, where high absolute emissions combine with comparatively lower PPP-adjusted GDP.
The middle of the ranking includes large economies at notably varied positions. The United States sits at rank 53 with a value of 0.18, while China ranks 14th at 0.39 and India ranks 32nd at 0.22. Several European economies appear in the lower half: Germany ranks 112th (0.11), France 155th (0.07), and Sweden 174th (0.057). Switzerland ranks 181st at 0.046. A counterintuitive placement is Vanuatu at rank 22 (0.27), higher than Canada (rank 28, 0.25) and Australia (rank 30, 0.23). The bottom of the ranking includes Bermuda (rank 182, 0.038), Congo, Dem. Rep. (rank 183, 0.035), Somalia (rank 184, 0.032), Macao SAR (rank 185, 0.023), and several territories with near-zero or zero values.
A key limitation of this metric is the exclusion of LULUCF emissions, which means countries with significant land-use change or deforestation may appear less carbon-intensive than their total greenhouse gas footprint would suggest. The metric covers only CO2 from the six Kyoto gases framework sectors and does not capture all greenhouse gases equally across all sources. PPP-adjusted GDP comparisons can be sensitive to the base year used (2021 in this case) and to the accuracy of national accounts data, which varies across countries. Small economies or territories with unusual economic structures, such as Palau or the various island jurisdictions near the bottom, can produce extreme or near-zero values that reflect structural economic factors rather than emissions management alone. Nine extreme outliers were identified at the 3-sigma level, with Palau being the most prominent.
Methodology
The metric is sourced from the World Bank World Development Indicators, indicator code EN.GHG.CO2.RT.GDP.PP.KD, with a data year of 2024. It is defined as: annual emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), one of the six Kyoto greenhouse gases (GHG), from the agriculture, energy, waste, and industrial sectors, excluding LULUCF, divided by the GDP in 2021 PPP $. The unit is kg CO2e per 2021 PPP dollar of GDP, where higher values indicate greater carbon intensity. Coverage spans 191 countries, all meeting the recency threshold with 100% of data from within the last seven years, and 100% of datapoints classified as official quality. The ranking passes the 80-country coverage threshold and the 50% volatility threshold (average year-over-year change: 6.0%). Nine extreme outliers were identified at the 3-sigma level. The value range runs from 0.00 to 4.80, representing a spread of 999%. LULUCF emissions are excluded by definition, which is a material limitation when assessing total national carbon footprints.