United States and China
CO2 from fossil fuels and industry, 2022. Ranks are among 164 countries.
The United States emitted 1.8 times as much CO2 per person as China in 2022. China emitted 2.3 times as much CO2 in total as the United States.
| Measure | United States | China |
|---|---|---|
| Totalmillion tonnes | 5,0552nd of 164 | 11,7121st of 164 |
| Per persontonnes | 14.88th of 164 | 8.2224th of 164 |
| Per unit of GDPkg per international dollar (2011 prices, PPP) | 0.25952nd of 164 | 0.43419th of 164 |
Per person over time
CO2 from fossil fuels and industry per person, 1950 to 2024. United States: 16.5 tonnes per person in 1950, 14.2 in 2024, with a high of 22.2 in 1973. China: 0.145 tonnes per person in 1950, 8.66 in 2024, with a high of 8.66 in 2024.
Show the data as a table
| Year | United States, tonnes | China, tonnes |
|---|---|---|
| 1950 | 16.5 | 0.145 |
| 1955 | 16.4 | 0.316 |
| 1960 | 16.1 | 1.22 |
| 1965 | 17.4 | 0.692 |
| 1970 | 20.9 | 0.981 |
| 1975 | 20.1 | 1.29 |
| 1980 | 20.6 | 1.52 |
| 1985 | 18.6 | 1.88 |
| 1990 | 20.3 | 2.15 |
| 1995 | 20.2 | 2.75 |
| 2000 | 21.4 | 2.87 |
| 2005 | 20.7 | 4.49 |
| 2010 | 18.2 | 6.37 |
| 2015 | 16.5 | 7.06 |
| 2020 | 13.8 | 7.64 |
| 2024 | 14.2 | 8.66 |
Sources
- Our World in Data, CO2 and Greenhouse Gas Emissions (owid-co2-data.csv): countries from 1950. Our World in Data, CO2 and Greenhouse Gas Emissions (ourworldindata.org/co2-and-greenhouse-gas-emissions), based on the Global Carbon Budget (2025), the Maddison Project Database 2023 (Bolt and van Zanden) and OWID's population series. Retrieved 16 October 2026. Terms. Trimmed from the published file.
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