About this chart race
This race has three eras. In 1850 the United Kingdom alone produced roughly six times as much carbon dioxide as the United States - 122 million tonnes against 20 - because Britain was the only country that had industrialised. The United States passed Britain in 1888 and then held first place for 118 years, peaking at just over 6 billion tonnes. China, which as late as 1950 still emitted less than the United Kingdom, overtook the United States in 2006 and has since climbed to 12.3 billion tonnes a year, about two and a half times the American figure.
Watch the middle of the field as well. India climbs from nowhere to third. Russia's line falls off a cliff after 1990 as the Soviet economy collapsed, dropping from 2,536 million tonnes to 1,618 by 1995, and it has never returned to its peak. The United Kingdom, first in the world for 38 years, has fallen out of the top ten altogether and now emits less than it did in 1860.
These are production-based emissions from fossil fuels and cement - carbon released inside a country's own borders. They are not adjusted for trade, so goods manufactured in China for customers elsewhere count against China. Figures use present-day borders throughout: emissions from the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia are assigned to their successor states, which is why the lines for Russia, Ukraine and Czechia run continuously instead of starting in 1992.
A note on country names: long historical series like this one are compiled for present-day borders, so a figure shown under a modern country for a year before that country existed refers to the territory it now covers, not to a state that was on the map at the time. Where a well-known historical name applies to the whole span it is used instead, which is why Russia appears here as Russia / USSR. Emissions listed for the Czech lands in the 1800s, for example, came from Bohemia and Moravia while they were part of Austria-Hungary.
This animated ranking shows how annual co2 emissions, million tonnes changed across 20 series between 1850 and 2024. The bars re-order themselves as the years advance, so overtakes are visible as they happen rather than hidden inside a table. Use the list on the left to choose exactly who competes, drag the slider to jump to any year, or open the table view to read the underlying numbers.
As of 2024, China leads with 12,289.
Included in this race
China, United States, India, Russia, Japan, Germany, Indonesia, Iran, Ukraine, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, United Kingdom, Canada, France, Turkey, Poland, Czechia, Netherlands, Belgium, Austria.
Source
Data from Global Carbon Budget (via Our World in Data). Check the stated period and methodology. Animated transitions between source observations are visual interpolation, not additional measurements.
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