Countries by Methane (CH4) emissions (total) excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e)
China leads all 203 countries in methane emissions with 1,485.34 Mt CO2e, more than 1.7 times the second-ranked India at 861.61 Mt CO2e. At the bottom, Nauru registers just 0.0009 Mt CO2e, making the gap between first and last over 1.6 million times. That spread reflects the vast differences in population size, agricultural activity, fossil fuel production, and industrial scale across countries.
Ranking 2024
Analysis
This metric measures annual methane (CH4) emissions from the agriculture, energy, waste, and industrial sectors, excluding land use, land-use change, and forestry (LULUCF). Per the source definition, it is 'a measure of annual emissions of methane (CH4), one of the six Kyoto greenhouse gases (GHG), from the agriculture, energy, waste, and industrial sectors, excluding LULUCF,' with values standardized to carbon dioxide equivalent using Global Warming Potential factors from the IPCC's 5th Assessment Report (AR5). The unit is megatonnes of CO2 equivalent (Mt CO2e), and higher values indicate greater absolute methane output. The dataset covers 203 countries, all with data from the last seven years, and 100% of datapoints are classified as official quality. The viability checks identified 40 extreme outliers at the 3-sigma threshold, and the value range runs from 0.0009 to 1,485.34 Mt CO2e, a spread of over 165 million percent.
The top of the ranking is dominated by large, populous nations with major agricultural sectors and significant fossil fuel industries. China ranks first at 1,485.34 Mt CO2e, followed by India at 861.61 Mt CO2e and the United States at 843.36 Mt CO2e. Brazil ranks fourth at 621.19 Mt CO2e, driven in part by its large cattle herd and agricultural base. Indonesia (rank 5, 429.54 Mt CO2e) and Russia (rank 6, 416.94 Mt CO2e) round out the top six. Pakistan at rank 7 (250.90 Mt CO2e) places ahead of much larger economies such as Iran (rank 8, 175.70 Mt CO2e), Nigeria (rank 9, 175.13 Mt CO2e), and Iraq (rank 10, 163.16 Mt CO2e).
Several mid-ranking placements stand out. Mongolia ranks 29th at 64.50 Mt CO2e, placing it between France (rank 27, 66.98 Mt CO2e) and Uzbekistan (rank 30, 64.30 Mt CO2e), despite having a population well under 4 million. Ireland ranks 79th at 18.11 Mt CO2e, just above Afghanistan (rank 81, 16.25 Mt CO2e) and the Netherlands (rank 80, 17.05 Mt CO2e), reflecting its large livestock sector relative to its economy. Uruguay ranks 53rd at 28.50 Mt CO2e, ahead of Libya (rank 54, 27.42 Mt CO2e) and Tunisia (rank 108, 8.36 Mt CO2e). At the lower end of the ranking, small island states and territories cluster tightly: the Marshall Islands and Tuvalu both register 0.0026 Mt CO2e at rank 201, while Nauru is last at 0.0009 Mt CO2e.
This metric captures only absolute total methane emissions and does not account for population size, economic output, or emissions intensity. A country with a large population or land area will naturally rank higher than a small one with similar per-capita emissions. The exclusion of LULUCF means emissions from deforestation and land conversion are not reflected here, which can be significant for countries with large forest sectors. Reporting reliability may vary across countries, particularly where measurement infrastructure for agricultural and waste methane is less developed. The 40 extreme outliers flagged at the 3-sigma threshold suggest that a small number of very high emitters heavily skew the distribution, and users should interpret rankings in the context of country size and sector composition.
Methodology
Data are drawn from the World Bank World Development Indicators, indicator code EN.GHG.CH4.MT.CE.AR5, with a reference year of 2024. The metric is defined as 'a measure of annual 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 in megatonnes of CO2 equivalent (Mt CO2e) using Global Warming Potential factors from the IPCC's 5th Assessment Report (AR5). The ranking covers 203 countries, all of which have data from within the last seven years (100% recency). All 203 datapoints are classified as official quality (100%). Viability checks flagged 40 extreme outliers at the 3-sigma threshold. The value range spans 0.0009 to 1,485.34 Mt CO2e, a spread of over 165 million percent. Average year-over-year change across the dataset is 3.0%, indicating low volatility. LULUCF emissions are excluded from this measure, meaning land-use and forestry-related methane is not captured.