Countries by Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from Industrial Processes (Mt CO2e)
China ranks first in nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from industrial processes at 38.52 Mt CO2e, followed by the United States at 33.89 Mt CO2e and the Russian Federation at 23.35 Mt CO2e. At the opposite end, Virgin Islands (U.S.) records 0 Mt CO2e, making the gap between first and last effectively the full range of the dataset. The spread reflects deep differences in the scale and composition of industrial activity across 203 countries.
Ranking 2024
Analysis
This metric measures annual nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions, one of the six Kyoto greenhouse gases, from industrial processes. Per the source definition, it covers IPCC 2006 codes 2.A.1 Cement production, 2.A.2 Lime production, 2.A.3 Glass Production, 2.A.4 Other Process Uses of Carbonates, 2.B Chemical Industry, 2.C Metal Industry, 2.D Non-Energy Products from Fuels and Solvent Use, 2.E Electronics Industry, and 2.F Product Uses. Values are expressed in megatonnes of CO2-equivalent (Mt CO2e). The dataset covers 203 countries, all with data from the last seven years, and 100% of datapoints carry official data quality status. The World Bank indicator code is EN.GHG.N2O.IP.MT.CE.AR5, with a data year of 2024. The ranking identified 40 extreme outliers at the 3-sigma threshold, and the range runs from 0.00 to 38.52 Mt CO2e.
The top four countries — China (38.52), the United States (33.89), the Russian Federation (23.35), and India (17.63) — account for a disproportionate share of total emissions in this ranking. Brazil at rank 5 (8.60) and Australia at rank 6 (6.82) follow at less than half of India's figure, illustrating a steep drop from the top tier. Notably, Egypt (rank 8, 6.37) and Turkiye (rank 9, 6.27) rank higher than Indonesia (rank 10, 5.08) and Germany (rank 13, 4.36), placing some upper-middle economies above large industrialized nations. Poland (rank 11, 4.66) and Belgium (rank 12, 4.42) appear ahead of Saudi Arabia (rank 14, 3.98) and Canada (rank 16, 3.58).
Several placements in the middle of the ranking stand out. The Democratic Republic of Congo ranks 15th at 3.59 Mt CO2e, ahead of Canada (rank 16, 3.58) and Japan (rank 19, 2.89). Zambia at rank 17 (3.23) and Angola at rank 21 (2.76) both outrank Korea, Rep. (rank 22, 2.68) and the United Kingdom (rank 26, 2.52). Bolivia appears at rank 24 with 2.65 Mt CO2e, above Mexico (rank 25, 2.54) and France (rank 27, 2.47). At the lower end of the ranking, small island states and territories such as Nauru (rank 201, 0.0001) and Tuvalu (rank 201, 0.0001) record near-zero values, consistent with minimal industrial activity.
A key limitation is that this metric captures only emissions from the specific industrial process categories listed in the IPCC 2006 codes included in the source definition. Emissions from agriculture, energy combustion, waste, and land-use change are excluded entirely. Rankings can be influenced by differences in national reporting methodologies and estimation approaches, particularly for countries with less developed statistical systems. The 40 extreme outliers identified at the 3-sigma threshold suggest that a small number of countries drive much of the distribution's variance. Comparisons between countries should account for the fact that higher absolute values reflect larger industrial sectors, not necessarily higher emissions intensity per unit of output.
Methodology
Data are drawn from the World Bank World Development Indicators, indicator code EN.GHG.N2O.IP.MT.CE.AR5, for the data year 2024. The metric measures annual emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O), one of the six Kyoto greenhouse gases (GHG), from industrial processes including IPCC 2006 codes 2.A.1 Cement production, 2.A.2 Lime production, 2.A.3 Glass Production, 2.A.4 Other Process Uses of Carbonates, 2.B Chemical Industry, 2.C Metal Industry, 2.D Non-Energy Products from Fuels and Solvent Use, 2.E Electronics Industry, 2.F Product Uses. Values are expressed in megatonnes of CO2-equivalent (Mt CO2e) using AR5 global warming potentials. The ranking covers 203 countries, all with data from the last seven years (100% recency), and 100% of datapoints are classified as official quality. Coverage exceeds the 80-country threshold. The dataset contains 40 extreme outliers at the 3-sigma threshold. The value range runs from 0.00 to 38.52 Mt CO2e, representing a spread of 999% or more. Average year-over-year volatility is 7.8%, well below the 50% threshold. No microstates (populations under 1 million) are flagged, as 0 of 203 countries meet that criterion.