Countries by Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e)
India ranks first in agricultural methane (CH4) emissions with 572.27 Mt CO2e, followed by China at 498.98 Mt CO2e and Brazil at 471.81 Mt CO2e. At the opposite end, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Northern Mariana Islands, and Palau each record 0.00 Mt CO2e. The gap between first and last reflects the vast differences in livestock populations, rice cultivation area, and overall agricultural scale across the 201 countries ranked.
Ranking 2024
Analysis
This metric measures annual methane (CH4) emissions from the agricultural sector, expressed in megatonnes of CO2 equivalent (Mt CO2e). According to the source definition, it covers emissions from livestock — specifically IPCC 2006 codes 3.A.1 (enteric fermentation) and 3.A.2 (manure management) — and from crops, including IPCC 2006 codes 3.C.1 (emissions from biomass burning), 3.C.2 (liming), 3.C.3 (urea application), 3.C.4 (direct N2O emissions from managed soils), and 3.C.5 (indirect N emissions). Higher values indicate greater absolute agricultural methane output. Data comes from the World Bank World Development Indicators, indicator code EN.GHG.CH4.AG.MT.CE.AR5, for the 2024 data year. The dataset covers 201 countries, with 100% of data points classified as official quality, 98.5% consistency in the latest year, and 40 extreme outliers identified at the 3-sigma threshold. Average year-over-year change is 3.0%, indicating low volatility.
The top four countries are separated from the rest by a large margin. India (rank 1, 572.27 Mt CO2e) and China (rank 2, 498.98 Mt CO2e) each exceed Brazil (rank 3, 471.81 Mt CO2e) by roughly 100 Mt CO2e or more. The United States (rank 4, 257.35 Mt CO2e) is the only other country above 200 Mt CO2e. Pakistan (rank 5, 203.87 Mt CO2e) sits just above the 200 Mt threshold. After Pakistan, values drop sharply: Argentina (rank 6) records 105.38 Mt CO2e and Indonesia (rank 7) records 88.40 Mt CO2e. These top-ranked countries share large agricultural sectors with extensive livestock herds or widespread paddy rice cultivation, both of which are primary sources of agricultural methane.
The middle of the ranking spans a wide range. France (rank 24, 42.25 Mt CO2e) and Germany (rank 27, 33.97 Mt CO2e) rank higher than many far more populous developing nations, reflecting large livestock sectors in those countries. Ireland (rank 49, 15.58 Mt CO2e) and New Zealand (rank 31, 29.69 Mt CO2e) — both relatively small in population — rank higher than many larger nations due to livestock-intensive agriculture. Chad (rank 12, 69.17 Mt CO2e) and Sudan (rank 13, 64.91 Mt CO2e) rank in the top 15, above much larger economies. By the lower half of the ranking, values fall below 10 Mt CO2e. Countries such as Gabon (rank 159, 0.11 Mt CO2e), Malta (rank 166, 0.053 Mt CO2e), and Singapore (rank 183, 0.0073 Mt CO2e) record near-zero emissions consistent with minimal agricultural land or livestock.
Several limitations apply to this metric. First, the ranking measures absolute emissions rather than emissions per capita or per unit of agricultural output, which means large countries with large agricultural sectors will mechanically rank higher regardless of efficiency. Second, methane has different atmospheric persistence and warming characteristics than CO2, and the CO2-equivalent conversion depends on the global warming potential (GWP) factor applied — here based on AR5 values — which may differ from other reporting frameworks. Third, agricultural methane estimates, particularly for enteric fermentation and manure management, often rely on activity data and emission factors rather than direct measurement, introducing estimation uncertainty. Fourth, the 40 extreme outliers identified at the 3-sigma threshold suggest that a small number of country values may warrant additional scrutiny. Finally, four countries record exactly 0.00 Mt CO2e, which likely reflects data gaps or rounding rather than a true absence of agricultural methane emissions.
Methodology
Data is sourced from the World Bank World Development Indicators, indicator code EN.GHG.CH4.AG.MT.CE.AR5, for the 2024 data year. The metric covers 201 countries, all with data from within the last 7 years (100% recency) and 100% classified as official quality. Consistency in the latest year stands at 98.5% (198 of 201 countries). The definition used is: a measure of annual emissions of methane (CH4), one of the six Kyoto greenhouse gases (GHG), from the agricultural sector. This includes emissions from livestock (IPCC 2006 codes 3.A.1 (enteric fermentation), 3.A.2 (manure management)) and crops (IPCC 2006 codes 3.C.1 Emissions from biomass burning, 3.C.2 Liming, 3.C.3 Urea application, 3.C.4 Direct N2O Emissions from managed soils, 3.C.5 Indirect N). Values are expressed in megatonnes of CO2 equivalent (Mt CO2e) using AR5 global warming potentials. The ranking runs from 0.00 Mt CO2e (Maldives, Marshall Islands, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau) to 572.27 Mt CO2e (India), representing a range of over 999%. Average year-over-year change is 3.0%. Forty extreme outliers were identified at the 3-sigma threshold. Higher values indicate greater absolute agricultural methane output.