Countries by Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from Industrial Combustion (Energy) (Mt CO2e)

India leads all 193 countries in nitrous oxide emissions from industrial combustion with 5.8369 Mt CO2e, narrowly ahead of China at 5.7324 Mt CO2e. At the other end, eight countries including Bermuda, Grenada, and Kiribati record 0 Mt CO2e. The gap between the top and bottom of this ranking spans nearly the entire range of 0 to 5.84 Mt CO2e.

Environment category

Ranking 2024

Countries by Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from Industrial Combustion (Energy) (Mt CO2e)
Rank	Country	Value
1	India	5.84
2	China	5.73
3	Brazil	2.43
4	United States	2
5	Indonesia	1.01
6	Vietnam	0.68
7	Russia	0.66
8	Thailand	0.5
9	Japan	0.44
10	Pakistan	0.33
11	Canada	0.32
12	Germany	0.28
13	Sweden	0.27
14	South Africa	0.25
15	Australia	0.23
16	Nigeria	0.21
17	South Korea	0.2
18	Türkiye	0.2
19	Finland	0.19
20	Uganda	0.17
21	Mexico	0.16
22	Poland	0.14
23	Spain	0.14
24	North Korea	0.13
25	France	0.13
26	Saudi Arabia	0.13
27	Gabon	0.12
28	Egypt	0.12
29	Chile	0.12
30	United Kingdom	0.1
31	Philippines	0.1
32	Sri Lanka	0.09
33	Iran	0.09
34	Colombia	0.09
35	Austria	0.08
35	Nepal	0.08
37	Uruguay	0.08
38	Tanzania	0.07
39	Kazakhstan	0.07
40	Italy	0.07
41	Cambodia	0.07
42	Paraguay	0.06
43	United Arab Emirates	0.06
44	Portugal	0.06
45	Argentina	0.05
46	Belgium	0.05
47	Bangladesh	0.05
48	Czechia	0.04
49	Bolivia	0.04
50	Cuba	0.04
51	Sudan	0.04
52	Zambia	0.04
53	Peru	0.04
54	Malaysia	0.04
55	Kenya	0.03
56	Romania	0.03
57	Norway	0.03
58	New Zealand	0.03
59	Slovakia	0.03
60	Switzerland	0.03
61	Myanmar	0.03
62	Latvia	0.03
63	Iraq	0.02
64	DR Congo	0.02
65	Ukraine	0.02
66	Hungary	0.02
67	Qatar	0.02
67	Venezuela	0.02
69	Dominican Republic	0.02
69	Ethiopia	0.02
71	Costa Rica	0.02
72	Ecuador	0.02
72	Eswatini	0.02
74	Madagascar	0.02
75	Bulgaria	0.02
76	Ghana	0.02
77	Netherlands	0.02
78	Morocco	0.02
79	Mozambique	0.02
80	Uzbekistan	0.01
81	Ireland	0.01
82	Afghanistan	0.01
83	Belarus	0.01
84	Zimbabwe	0.01
85	Singapore	0.01
86	Malawi	0.01
87	Denmark	0.01
88	Algeria	0.01
89	Honduras	0.01
90	Greece	0.01
91	Laos	0.01
92	Kuwait	0.01
93	Jordan	0.01
94	Oman	0.01
95	New Caledonia	0.01
96	Angola	0.01
97	Panama	0.01
98	Lithuania	0.01
99	Slovenia	0.01
100	Croatia	0.01
100	Guatemala	0.01
102	Tunisia	0.01
103	Rwanda	0.01
104	Mongolia	0.01
105	Turkmenistan	0.01
106	Haiti	0.01
107	Tajikistan	0.01
108	Jamaica	0.0049
109	Cyprus	0.0046
109	Papua New Guinea	0.0046
109	Syria	0.0046
112	Israel	0.0045
113	Bhutan	0.0043
113	Guyana	0.0043
115	El Salvador	0.0042
115	Georgia	0.0042
117	Nicaragua	0.0041
118	Lebanon	0.004
118	Yemen	0.004
120	Senegal	0.0037
121	Burkina Faso	0.0035
122	Côte d'Ivoire	0.0034
123	Cameroon	0.0033
123	Libya	0.0033
125	Albania	0.0032
126	Bosnia and Herzegovina	0.003
127	Belize	0.0028
127	Benin	0.0028
127	Guinea	0.0028
130	Fiji	0.0026
131	Mali	0.0023
131	Somalia	0.0023
133	Azerbaijan	0.0021
133	Estonia	0.0021
133	Namibia	0.0021
136	Chad	0.002
137	Botswana	0.0017
137	Republic of Congo	0.0017
139	Luxembourg	0.0016
139	Togo	0.0016
141	Kyrgyzstan	0.0015
141	Mauritius	0.0015
141	Trinidad and Tobago	0.0015
144	Mauritania	0.0014
144	North Macedonia	0.0014
146	Liberia	0.0013
147	Sierra Leone	0.0011
148	Bahrain	0.001
148	Brunei	0.001
148	Hong Kong	0.001
151	Burundi	0.0009
152	Central African Republic	0.0007
152	Equatorial Guinea	0.0007
152	Niger	0.0007
155	Bahamas	0.0006
156	Lesotho	0.0005
156	Maldives	0.0005
158	Armenia	0.0004
158	Guinea-Bissau	0.0004
158	Macao	0.0004
158	Moldova	0.0004
158	Suriname	0.0004
163	Barbados	0.0003
163	French Polynesia	0.0003
165	Cabo Verde	0.0002
165	Comoros	0.0002
165	Djibouti	0.0002
165	Gambia	0.0002
165	Palau	0.0002
165	Puerto Rico	0.0002
165	Seychelles	0.0002
165	Solomon Islands	0.0002
165	Timor-Leste	0.0002
174	Antigua and Barbuda	0.0001
174	Aruba	0.0001
174	Cayman Islands	0.0001
174	Dominica	0.0001
174	Eritrea	0.0001
174	Greenland	0.0001
174	Iceland	0.0001
174	Malta	0.0001
174	Samoa	0.0001
174	Saint Lucia	0.0001
174	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	0.0001
174	Vanuatu	0.0001
186	Bermuda	0
186	British Virgin Islands	0
186	Grenada	0
186	Kiribati	0
186	Sao Tome and Principe	0
186	Saint Kitts and Nevis	0
186	Tonga	0
186	Turks and Caicos Islands	0

Analysis

This metric measures annual nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from industrial combustion, a subsector of the energy sector. According to the source definition, it covers IPCC 2006 code 1.A.2 Manufacturing Industries and Construction, and values are standardized to carbon dioxide equivalents using the Global Warming Potential factors from the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report (AR5). The unit is megatonnes of CO2 equivalent (Mt CO2e). The dataset covers 193 countries with 100% of data points classified as official quality, all from within the last seven years, and a data year of 2024. The viability checks identified 28 extreme outliers at the 3-sigma threshold, reflecting the high concentration of emissions among a small number of large economies.

The top of the ranking is dominated by large, industrially active economies. India ranks 1st at 5.8369 Mt CO2e and China ranks 2nd at 5.7324 Mt CO2e, together accounting for a substantial share of the global total. Brazil ranks 3rd at 2.4277 Mt CO2e, followed by the United States at 4th with 2.0003 Mt CO2e and Indonesia at 5th with 1.0101 Mt CO2e. The next tier includes Viet Nam (6th, 0.6834), Russian Federation (7th, 0.6631), Thailand (8th, 0.5046), Japan (9th, 0.4405), and Pakistan (10th, 0.3325). These rankings broadly correspond to the scale of manufacturing and construction activity measured under IPCC code 1.A.2.

Several counterintuitive placements appear in the mid-range of the ranking. Sweden ranks 13th at 0.2663 Mt CO2e, ahead of much larger economies such as Italy (40th, 0.069), Spain (23rd, 0.1427), and the Netherlands (77th, 0.016). Uganda ranks 20th at 0.1683 Mt CO2e, placing it ahead of Mexico (21st, 0.1552) and Poland (22nd, 0.1434). Gabon ranks 27th at 0.123 Mt CO2e, ahead of the United Kingdom (30th, 0.1019). Austria and Nepal share rank 35 at exactly 0.0846 Mt CO2e, and Qatar and Venezuela share rank 67 at 0.0214 Mt CO2e. At the lower end, 12 countries share rank 174 at 0.0001 Mt CO2e, and 8 countries record exactly 0 Mt CO2e at rank 186.

Several data limitations apply to this metric. The indicator captures only the industrial combustion subsector (IPCC 1.A.2) and excludes other N2O emission sources such as agriculture, waste, or other energy subsectors, so it does not represent a country's total N2O or total greenhouse gas profile. Rankings can be influenced by differences in national reporting methodologies and the granularity with which countries apply IPCC 2006 guidelines. The 28 extreme outliers identified at the 3-sigma threshold suggest the distribution is heavily skewed, meaning small absolute differences at the lower end of the ranking carry less practical distinction. Countries with zero reported values may reflect genuine minimal activity, rounding, or incomplete disaggregation in national inventories rather than confirmed zero emissions.

Methodology

Data are drawn from the World Bank World Development Indicators, indicator code EN.GHG.N2O.IC.MT.CE.AR5, with a data year of 2024. The metric is defined as a measure of annual emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O), one of the six Kyoto greenhouse gases (GHG), from industrial combustion (subsector of the energy sector) including IPCC 2006 code 1.A.2 Manufacturing Industries and Construction. The measure is standardized to carbon dioxide equivalent values using the Global Warming Potential (GWP) factors of IPCC's 5th Assessment Report (AR5). The unit is megatonnes of CO2 equivalent (Mt CO2e). The dataset covers 193 countries, all with data from within the last seven years (100% recency), and 100% of data points are classified as official quality. Viability checks identified 28 extreme outliers at the 3-sigma threshold. The value range spans 0.00 to 5.84 Mt CO2e, representing a 999% spread. Average year-over-year change across the dataset is 11.3%, well within the 50% volatility threshold. Higher values indicate greater N2O emissions from industrial combustion and are ranked as higher in this index.

Sources

World Bank