Countries by Methane (CH4) emissions (total) excluding LULUCF (% change from 1990)

Equatorial Guinea ranks 1st with methane emissions 3,075.21% above its 1990 baseline, the highest recorded change among 203 countries. At the opposite end, Syria ranks 203rd at -75.97%, the steepest reduction from 1990 levels. The 3,151 percentage point spread reflects the wide divergence in industrialization trajectories, energy sector growth, and agricultural expansion since 1990.

Environment category

Ranking 2024

Values shown in %.

Countries by Methane (CH4) emissions (total) excluding LULUCF (% change from 1990)
Rank	Country	%
1	Equatorial Guinea	3075.21
2	Chad	826.73
3	Mongolia	575.34
4	Maldives	401.77
5	Mozambique	340.13
6	Guyana	337.63
7	Jordan	303.25
8	Guinea	302.05
9	Singapore	291.63
10	Niger	251.19
11	Uganda	250.09
12	Mali	243.00
13	Ghana	234.97
14	Tanzania	219.79
15	Indonesia	205.66
16	Togo	205.39
17	Lebanon	203.89
18	Benin	187.54
19	DR Congo	186.65
20	Zambia	181.42
21	Timor-Leste	178.03
22	Malawi	177.70
23	Kenya	168.33
24	Ethiopia	166.37
25	Liberia	159.47
26	Burundi	158.33
27	Pakistan	153.83
28	Qatar	152.32
29	Burkina Faso	151.88
30	Guatemala	149.32
31	Côte d'Ivoire	145.01
32	Central African Republic	144.90
33	Papua New Guinea	138.76
34	Uzbekistan	137.33
35	Sierra Leone	130.57
36	Cayman Islands	129.73
37	Laos	128.35
38	Solomon Islands	125.62
39	Cambodia	123.05
40	Kiribati	121.88
41	Kuwait	121.27
42	Israel	119.12
43	Senegal	113.79
44	Sao Tome and Principe	109.28
45	Sudan	107.39
46	Belize	105.34
47	Saudi Arabia	104.89
48	Afghanistan	103.32
49	Namibia	100.88
50	Tajikistan	99.94
51	Morocco	97.91
52	Turkmenistan	97.58
53	Mauritania	97.50
54	Guinea-Bissau	97.02
55	Angola	90.15
56	Nicaragua	86.65
57	Vietnam	85.79
58	Cyprus	84.98
59	Comoros	84.68
60	Republic of Congo	84.58
61	Brazil	83.21
62	Honduras	82.73
63	Seychelles	82.56
64	Djibouti	82.52
65	Gambia	81.83
66	Bahamas	77.20
67	Paraguay	76.56
68	United Arab Emirates	74.37
69	Dominican Republic	74.07
70	Iran	72.59
71	Oman	71.14
72	Bahrain	70.79
73	Malta	69.91
74	Micronesia	67.91
75	Haiti	67.43
76	Philippines	67.27
77	Iraq	66.46
78	Azerbaijan	58.00
79	Türkiye	57.95
80	Trinidad and Tobago	53.54
81	Aruba	53.02
82	Grenada	52.66
83	Malaysia	51.08
84	Madagascar	48.96
85	Hong Kong	48.67
86	Bangladesh	45.82
87	Colombia	45.50
88	Ecuador	43.74
89	China	43.72
90	British Virgin Islands	43.37
91	Myanmar	42.62
92	Cabo Verde	42.46
93	Uruguay	42.12
94	Bermuda	41.86
95	Panama	40.87
96	Yemen	40.41
97	India	39.61
98	Peru	39.58
99	Canada	37.27
100	Northern Mariana Islands	33.33
101	Bolivia	33.18
102	Chile	33.08
103	Eritrea	32.08
104	Somalia	32.02
105	Gibraltar	31.90
106	Kyrgyzstan	31.01
107	French Polynesia	29.93
108	Bhutan	28.62
109	Nauru	28.57
110	Saint Kitts and Nevis	28.36
111	Macao	28.13
112	Mexico	27.65
113	Tunisia	24.18
114	Egypt	24.17
115	South Africa	23.99
116	Tuvalu	23.81
117	Costa Rica	21.89
118	Guam	19.80
119	Brunei	19.47
120	Norway	18.85
121	Marshall Islands	18.18
122	Dominica	15.31
123	Portugal	14.37
124	Tonga	14.04
125	Mauritius	13.20
126	South Korea	12.04
127	Suriname	11.80
128	Thailand	11.51
129	Spain	11.48
130	Argentina	10.65
131	Sri Lanka	10.62
132	Nepal	10.08
133	American Samoa	9.84
134	Faroe Islands	9.16
135	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	8.66
136	El Salvador	8.51
137	Rwanda	7.75
138	Gabon	6.65
139	Lesotho	6.34
140	Venezuela	5.78
141	Turks and Caicos Islands	5.00
142	Ireland	4.80
143	Australia	3.99
144	Cameroon	3.81
145	Zimbabwe	3.14
146	Greenland	1.23
147	Nigeria	1.16
148	Finland	0.20
149	Algeria	0.18
150	Samoa	-2.89
151	United States	-3.07
152	Greece	-3.55
153	Switzerland	-3.65
154	U.S. Virgin Islands	-4.00
155	Vanuatu	-4.00
156	New Zealand	-7.09
157	Fiji	-7.65
158	Saint Lucia	-8.09
159	Luxembourg	-8.45
160	Iceland	-9.90
161	Georgia	-10.43
162	Russia	-11.28
163	Italy	-12.27
164	Armenia	-14.97
165	Croatia	-15.18
166	Eswatini	-15.31
167	Denmark	-16.69
168	Antigua and Barbuda	-18.50
169	Bosnia and Herzegovina	-18.77
170	France	-19.96
171	Barbados	-20.35
172	Cuba	-20.64
173	New Caledonia	-20.66
174	North Korea	-25.50
175	Japan	-25.78
176	Belarus	-26.45
177	Hungary	-26.98
178	Botswana	-27.91
179	Sweden	-28.01
180	Jamaica	-28.07
181	Kazakhstan	-28.18
182	Belgium	-28.41
183	Puerto Rico	-29.70
184	Slovenia	-35.97
185	Austria	-39.04
186	North Macedonia	-41.37
187	Czechia	-41.89
188	Slovakia	-44.99
189	Romania	-46.66
190	Bulgaria	-47.42
191	Albania	-47.96
192	Libya	-48.40
193	Moldova	-50.32
194	Netherlands	-54.13
195	Estonia	-57.22
196	United Kingdom	-58.99
197	Ukraine	-59.91
198	Germany	-61.14
199	Latvia	-61.70
200	Lithuania	-62.09
201	Poland	-63.24
202	Palau	-74.18
203	Syria	-75.97

Analysis

This metric tracks the percentage change in total methane (CH4) emissions relative to each country's 1990 baseline, excluding land use, land-use change, and forestry (LULUCF). According to the source definition, it measures the 'change of emissions (as %) of current year with respect to emissions in baseline year 1990 emissions of methane (CH4), one of the six Kyoto greenhouse gases (GHG), from the agriculture, energy, waste, and industrial sectors, excluding LULUCF.' Values are standardized to carbon dioxide equivalent using Global Warming Potential factors from IPCC's 5th Assessment Report (AR5). A higher value means emissions have grown more relative to 1990. The dataset covers 203 countries, all with data from within the last 7 years, and 100% of datapoints are classified as official quality. Ten extreme outliers were identified using a 3-standard-deviation threshold, and the data year is 2024.

The top of the ranking is dominated by countries that had very low absolute methane emissions in 1990, meaning even modest absolute growth produces extreme percentage increases. Equatorial Guinea leads at rank 1 with 3,075.21%, followed by Chad at rank 2 with 826.73% and Mongolia at rank 3 with 575.34%. Maldives ranks 4th at 401.77% and Mozambique 5th at 340.13%. Several Sub-Saharan African nations appear prominently: Uganda (rank 11, 250.09%), Mali (rank 12, 243.00%), Ghana (rank 13, 234.97%), and Tanzania (rank 14, 219.79%). Singapore ranks 9th at 291.63%, notable as a high-income city-state, while Qatar ranks 28th at 152.32% and Kuwait 41st at 121.27%, reflecting significant energy sector expansion since 1990.

The middle of the ranking includes large economies with moderate emissions growth. China ranks 89th at 43.72%, India ranks 97th at 39.61%, and the United States ranks 151st at -3.07%. Several high-income European countries cluster near the bottom: Germany ranks 198th at -61.14%, the United Kingdom ranks 196th at -58.99%, and the Netherlands ranks 194th at -54.13%. Poland ranks 201st at -63.24% and Lithuania ranks 200th at -62.09%. Palau ranks 202nd at -74.18%, an anomaly given its small size, placing it among the largest relative reducers globally. Syria ranks last at -75.97%. Former Soviet states including Ukraine (rank 197, -59.91%), Latvia (rank 199, -61.70%), and Estonia (rank 195, -57.22%) also show large reductions from 1990 baselines.

A key limitation of this metric is that percentage change from a 1990 baseline is heavily influenced by the size of a country's emissions in that baseline year. Countries with very low 1990 emissions can show extreme percentage increases from small absolute changes, while countries with large 1990 emissions show modest percentages even with significant absolute growth. The exclusion of LULUCF means emissions from deforestation and land conversion are not captured. Rankings may also reflect geopolitical disruptions, economic collapse, or conflict affecting industrial and agricultural output rather than deliberate emissions management. Reporting reliability varies, and the presence of 10 extreme outliers at the 3-standard-deviation threshold signals that some values may reflect data revisions or anomalous baseline figures rather than sustained emissions trends.

Methodology

Metric: EN.GHG.CH4.ZG.AR5. Source: World Bank World Development Indicators. Data year: 2024. This indicator measures the 'change of emissions (as %) of current year with respect to emissions in baseline year 1990 emissions of methane (CH4), one of the six Kyoto greenhouse gases (GHG), from the agriculture, energy, waste, and industrial sectors, excluding LULUCF.' Values are expressed as percentage change and standardized to carbon dioxide equivalent using GWP factors from IPCC's 5th Assessment Report (AR5). Coverage: 203 countries, all with data from within the last 7 years (100% recency). 100% of datapoints are official quality. The dataset contains 10 extreme outliers identified at the 3-standard-deviation threshold. The value range spans -75.97% to 3,075.21%, a spread of approximately 4,148%. Average year-over-year change across the dataset is 27.0%. Higher values indicate greater growth in methane emissions relative to the 1990 baseline.

Sources

World Bank