Countries by Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (% change from 1990)

Ranking 2024

Values shown in %.

Analysis

This metric tracks the percentage change in total greenhouse gas emissions excluding land use, land-use change, and forestry (LULUCF) relative to each country's 1990 emissions level. Per the source definition, it measures the 'change of emissions (as %) of current year with respect to emissions in baseline year 1990 emissions of the six greenhouse gases (GHG) covered by the Kyoto Protocol (carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), and sulphurhexafluoride (SF6)) from the energy, industry, waste, and agriculture sectors, standardized to carbon dioxide equ.' A higher value means a greater increase from the 1990 baseline, which is flagged as 'higher is better' in the context of economic and population growth relative to base-year emissions. The indicator code is EN.GHG.TOT.ZG.AR5, sourced from the World Bank World Development Indicators for data year 2024. Coverage is strong: 203 countries are included, all with data from the last 7 years, and 100% of datapoints are classified as official-quality. The viability check identified 18 extreme outliers beyond the 3-sigma threshold, and the data range spans -79.86% to 4,294.55%, a spread of 5,477.6%.

The top of the ranking is dominated by countries with very low 1990 baseline emissions, where even modest absolute growth produces extreme percentage gains. Equatorial Guinea leads at rank 1 with a 4,294.55% increase, followed by Turks and Caicos Islands at rank 2 with 2,484.78%, and Maldives at rank 3 with 1,450.67%. Greenland ranks 4th at 979.05% and Chad ranks 5th at 814.30%. Among larger economies, Viet Nam ranks 6th at 535.79%, China ranks 13th at 318.45%, and India ranks 37th at 222.92%. These high-population countries show large absolute emissions growth reflected in high percentage increases from their 1990 levels. Qatar ranks 7th at 519.04% and the United Arab Emirates ranks 35th at 232.25%, consistent with rapid energy-sector expansion since 1990 as visible in the data.

The middle of the ranking includes countries clustered near zero change from 1990. Ireland ranks 152nd at 1.23%, Jamaica ranks 151st at 1.89%, and Venezuela ranks 150th at 2.19%, all near the breakeven point. Countries in the lower half generally show declining emissions relative to 1990. Many are former Soviet-bloc economies: Ukraine ranks last at -79.86%, Estonia ranks 202nd at -69.02%, Moldova ranks 201st at -68.84%, Romania ranks 200th at -57.74%, and Latvia ranks 199th at -57.74%. Germany ranks 191st at -45.42% and the United Kingdom ranks 194th at -50.30%. The United States ranks 158th at -4.89%, while Canada ranks 137th at 30.07%, reflecting that Canada remains well above its 1990 baseline. A notable anomaly is Syria at rank 173 with -25.61%, consistent with a collapse in economic and industrial activity visible in the data rather than deliberate reduction.

This metric has several important limitations. Because it expresses change as a percentage from a 1990 baseline, countries with very small absolute emissions in 1990 will show extreme percentage increases even from modest absolute growth, as seen with Equatorial Guinea (rank 1, 4,294.55%) and Turks and Caicos Islands (rank 2, 2,484.78%). This makes direct comparisons between small and large economies misleading in terms of absolute climate impact. The metric explicitly excludes LULUCF emissions, meaning deforestation and land-use change — significant sources in many tropical countries — are not captured here. Reporting reliability may vary across countries, particularly for methane and nitrous oxide from agriculture, and for HFCs and PFCs where measurement infrastructure differs. The viability check flagged 18 extreme outliers at the 3-sigma threshold, which are likely small-baseline countries rather than data errors, but users should interpret the top-ranked values with caution. The 1990 baseline year also means countries that did not exist or had different borders in 1990 may have baseline estimates with higher uncertainty.

Methodology

Data are drawn from the World Bank World Development Indicators, indicator code EN.GHG.TOT.ZG.AR5, for data year 2024. The metric is defined as the 'change of emissions (as %) of current year with respect to emissions in baseline year 1990 emissions of the six greenhouse gases (GHG) covered by the Kyoto Protocol (carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), and sulphurhexafluoride (SF6)) from the energy, industry, waste, and agriculture sectors, standardized to carbon dioxide equ.' LULUCF emissions are excluded. The unit is percentage change from the 1990 baseline. The ranking covers 203 countries. Coverage is 100%: all 203 countries have data from the last 7 years and all datapoints are classified as official quality. The data range is -79.86% to 4,294.55%, a spread of 5,477.6%. Viability checks identified 18 extreme outliers beyond the 3-sigma threshold, predominantly small-baseline countries at the top of the ranking. Average year-over-year volatility is 22.7%, below the 50% threshold.

Sources

• World Bank