Countries by Total greenhouse gas emissions including LULUCF (Mt CO2e)

China ranks 1st in total greenhouse gas emissions including LULUCF with 14,065.28 Mt CO2e in 2023, more than twice the United States at rank 2 with 4,969.19 Mt CO2e. At the other end, the Central African Republic ranks 176th at -147.59 Mt CO2e, meaning its land use and forestry sectors absorb more carbon than all other sources emit. The gap between first and last reflects both the scale of industrial and energy activity and the role that forest cover plays in net emissions accounting.

Environment category

Ranking 2023

Countries by Total greenhouse gas emissions including LULUCF (Mt CO2e)
Rank	Country	Value
1	China	14065.28
2	United States	4969.19
3	India	3720.86
4	Brazil	2048.64
5	Indonesia	1559.22
6	Russia	1319.71
7	Iran	1051.62
8	Japan	1043.32
9	Saudi Arabia	809.22
10	Canada	758.51
11	Germany	745.55
12	South Korea	628.51
13	Nigeria	563.38
14	Pakistan	550.5
15	Vietnam	503.43
16	South Africa	498.74
17	Türkiye	494.68
18	Australia	491.69
19	Mexico	483.71
20	Argentina	424.71
21	United Kingdom	394.57
22	France	351.89
23	Kazakhstan	330.81
24	Italy	324.12
25	Thailand	318.67
26	Poland	318.48
27	Colombia	311.49
28	Ethiopia	311.48
29	Philippines	301.77
30	United Arab Emirates	253.23
31	Algeria	247.41
32	Spain	235.39
33	Bangladesh	216.21
34	Uzbekistan	202.91
35	Peru	200.05
36	Ukraine	190.28
37	Kuwait	168.02
38	Myanmar	167.14
39	Netherlands	152.6
40	Kenya	147.42
41	Sudan	146.38
42	Tanzania	143.22
43	Angola	138.69
44	Turkmenistan	127.45
45	Uganda	113.07
46	Morocco	107.63
47	Belgium	106.86
48	Czechia	105.26
49	Ecuador	98.99
50	Malaysia	95.37
51	Bolivia	93.35
52	Chad	91.73
53	Côte d'Ivoire	91.41
54	Cambodia	79.48
55	Austria	78.92
56	Israel	78.8
57	Burkina Faso	74.73
58	Guatemala	73.89
59	North Korea	73.62
60	Singapore	72.42
61	Madagascar	70.05
62	Mozambique	68.04
63	Greece	65.92
64	Bahrain	64.88
65	Mongolia	63.54
66	Guinea	62.22
67	Ireland	60.29
68	DR Congo	59.53
69	Chile	59.37
70	Finland	59.05
71	New Zealand	57.7
72	Azerbaijan	55.78
73	Romania	54.73
74	Hungary	54.03
75	Ghana	53.62
76	Portugal	52.74
77	Laos	52.18
78	Dominican Republic	52
79	Somalia	51.59
80	Syria	46.49
81	Paraguay	45.65
82	Belarus	45.62
83	Zimbabwe	45.37
84	Switzerland	44.11
85	Afghanistan	42.98
86	Bulgaria	40.92
87	Togo	40.06
88	Norway	39.91
89	Denmark	38.01
90	Uruguay	33.86
91	Jordan	33.48
92	Slovakia	32.49
93	Nicaragua	31.68
94	Trinidad and Tobago	31.48
95	Niger	31.07
96	Yemen	30.48
97	Tunisia	30.17
98	Nepal	25.88
99	Bosnia and Herzegovina	21.8
100	Croatia	21.13
101	Tajikistan	20.81
102	Sweden	18.51
103	Senegal	18.08
104	Malawi	17.79
105	Solomon Islands	16.82
106	Estonia	16.77
107	Sri Lanka	16.7
108	Equatorial Guinea	16.53
109	Honduras	16.35
110	Mauritania	16.29
111	Lithuania	15.85
112	Lebanon	15.11
113	Latvia	14.92
114	Haiti	14.76
115	El Salvador	14.04
116	Georgia	13.85
117	Costa Rica	13.65
118	Benin	13.39
119	Slovenia	12.35
120	Moldova	11.91
121	Kyrgyzstan	11.35
122	Iceland	10.6
123	Lesotho	10.56
124	Armenia	10.26
125	Botswana	9.79
126	North Macedonia	9.21
127	Cyprus	8.8
128	Albania	8.61
129	Brunei	7.6
130	Jamaica	7.42
131	Cuba	7.33
132	Luxembourg	7.17
133	Eritrea	6.33
134	Republic of Congo	6.17
135	Mauritius	5.05
136	Bahamas	4.77
137	Zambia	3.83
138	Fiji	3.21
139	Gambia	3.03
140	Malta	2.23
141	Palau	1.36
142	Rwanda	1.26
143	Barbados	0.83
144	Cabo Verde	0.82
145	Seychelles	0.78
146	Antigua and Barbuda	0.61
147	Timor-Leste	0.4
148	Saint Lucia	0.23
149	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	0.13
150	Grenada	0.06
151	Saint Kitts and Nevis	0.04
152	Tuvalu	0.0041
153	Samoa	-0.26
154	Sao Tome and Principe	-0.27
155	Micronesia	-0.51
156	Eswatini	-0.71
157	Comoros	-1.2
158	Tonga	-1.71
159	Papua New Guinea	-2.18
160	Dominica	-2.61
161	Djibouti	-4.61
162	Vanuatu	-6.31
163	Burundi	-7.23
164	Belize	-7.88
165	Panama	-8.43
166	Bhutan	-8.54
167	Suriname	-14.21
168	Liberia	-16.09
169	Guinea-Bissau	-19.4
170	Cameroon	-36.24
171	Gabon	-87.25
172	Namibia	-96.82
173	Mali	-108.42
174	Venezuela	-119.61
175	Guyana	-133.82
176	Central African Republic	-147.59

Analysis

This metric measures annual total greenhouse gas emissions including land use, land use change, and forestry (LULUCF) across 176 countries, expressed in megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (Mt CO2e) for the data year 2023. Per the source definition, it covers '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, agriculture, and land use, land use changes, and forestry (LULUCF) sectors, standardized to carbon dioxide equivalent values.' The indicator code is EN.GHG.ALL.LU.MT.CE.AR5 from the World Bank World Development Indicators. All 176 countries in the dataset have data from the last seven years, and 100% of datapoints are classified as official quality. Viability checks identified 19 extreme outliers at the 3-sigma threshold, and the value range spans -147.59 to 14,065.28, a spread of 9,629.7%.

The top of the ranking is dominated by large economies with high energy consumption and significant industrial output. China (rank 1, 14,065.28 Mt CO2e) leads by a wide margin. The United States (rank 2, 4,969.19 Mt CO2e) and India (rank 3, 3,720.86 Mt CO2e) follow, with Brazil at rank 4 (2,048.64 Mt CO2e) notably elevated in part due to LULUCF activity. Indonesia ranks 5th at 1,559.22 Mt CO2e, also reflecting land-use factors in addition to energy. The Russian Federation (rank 6, 1,319.71 Mt CO2e), Iran (rank 7, 1,051.62 Mt CO2e), and Japan (rank 8, 1,043.32 Mt CO2e) complete the top eight. High absolute values at the top of this ranking correspond to combinations of large population, extensive energy infrastructure, and, in several cases, substantial agricultural or land-use emissions.

The middle of the ranking includes a diverse mix of upper-middle-income and lower-middle-income countries. Nigeria ranks 13th at 563.38 Mt CO2e and Pakistan 14th at 550.50 Mt CO2e, both ahead of several wealthier European nations. In the lower portion of the ranking, net-negative values begin at rank 153, where Samoa registers -0.26 Mt CO2e. Countries such as Gabon (rank 171, -87.25 Mt CO2e), Namibia (rank 172, -96.82 Mt CO2e), Mali (rank 173, -108.42 Mt CO2e), Venezuela (rank 174, -119.61 Mt CO2e), and Guyana (rank 175, -133.82 Mt CO2e) all record substantial negative totals, indicating their LULUCF sectors function as net carbon sinks that offset emissions from other sectors. Sweden ranks 102nd at just 18.51 Mt CO2e, placing it below many smaller and less industrialized nations in absolute emission terms.

Because this metric reports absolute totals rather than per-capita or per-GDP figures, it systematically favors smaller or less populous countries in the lower ranks regardless of emissions intensity. Countries with large forest areas can record negative totals due to LULUCF absorption, but the accuracy of these figures depends heavily on the quality of national land-use inventories, which vary considerably. The 19 extreme outliers flagged in the viability checks suggest some values diverge sharply from regional norms and may warrant scrutiny. LULUCF estimates are particularly sensitive to methodological assumptions about forest carbon stocks, land-use change rates, and sink permanence. Rankings can shift meaningfully between years if land-use classifications or reporting methodologies are revised.

Methodology

Data are drawn from the World Bank World Development Indicators, indicator code EN.GHG.ALL.LU.MT.CE.AR5, for the reference year 2023. The metric covers, verbatim from the source: '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, agriculture, and land use, land use changes, and forestry (LULUCF) sectors, standardized to carbon dioxide equivalent values.' The dataset covers 176 countries, all of which have data from within the last seven years (100% recency). All datapoints are classified as official quality (100%). Viability checks identified 19 extreme outliers at the 3-sigma threshold. The value range runs from -147.59 Mt CO2e (Central African Republic, rank 176) to 14,065.28 Mt CO2e (China, rank 1), representing a spread of 9,629.7%. Average year-over-year change across the dataset is 9.3%, well within the 50% volatility threshold. Values are reported in absolute megatonnes of CO2 equivalent (Mt CO2e); negative values indicate net carbon absorption through LULUCF exceeding gross emissions from all other sectors.

Sources

World Bank