Countries With the Largest Historical CO2 Emissions, 1750-2024
About This Dataset
Countries With the Largest Historical CO2 Emissions, 1750-2024
What this chart shows. The 20 countries that have emitted the most carbon dioxide from fossil fuels and industry since 1750, in billions of tonnes, according to the Global Carbon Budget. The United States leads with 434.9 billion tonnes, 23.5 per cent of the world total of 1,849 billion, ahead of China with 285.1 billion and Russia with 122.8 billion.
How the data is collected. The Global Carbon Budget, an annual assessment by an international group of scientists, estimates each country's yearly emissions from coal, oil, gas, cement production and gas flaring; Our World in Data adds them up from the first year with data. Emissions from deforestation and other land use are not included here.
Background. China has been the largest annual emitter for years, and in 2024 it emitted 2.5 times as much as the United States, but the United States still has the larger historical total. The United Kingdom, which produced 62 per cent of the world's fossil CO2 in 1850, ranks 5th.
Limits. Historical totals ignore population: India, seventh here, has a much smaller total per person. Early national figures, especially before 1900, are reconstructions with wide uncertainty, and emissions are counted by today's borders.
How the data is collected. The Global Carbon Budget, an annual assessment by an international group of scientists, estimates each country's yearly emissions from coal, oil, gas, cement production and gas flaring; Our World in Data adds them up from the first year with data. Emissions from deforestation and other land use are not included here.
Background. China has been the largest annual emitter for years, and in 2024 it emitted 2.5 times as much as the United States, but the United States still has the larger historical total. The United Kingdom, which produced 62 per cent of the world's fossil CO2 in 1850, ranks 5th.
Limits. Historical totals ignore population: India, seventh here, has a much smaller total per person. Early national figures, especially before 1900, are reconstructions with wide uncertainty, and emissions are counted by today's borders.
Analysis
The United States, China and Russia together account for 45.6 per cent of all fossil CO2 emitted since 1750. Brazil, fourth in the chart that includes deforestation, is only 19th on fossil emissions alone.
Key Findings
🏆
United States leads in Cumulative CO2 Emissions (billion tonnes) with 434.90.
📊
Average Cumulative CO2 Emissions (billion tonnes): 73.87 · median: 30.10.
↔️
Gap: United States is 25× larger than Indonesia.
Data Insights
Numbers, trends & sources behind this chart
Methodology & source
- Data source
- Global Carbon Budget (2025) via Our World in Data
- Coverage
- 20 entities · 1750-2024 · 20 observations
- Measure
- Cumulative CO2 Emissions (billion tonnes)
- Last updated
- 29 September 2026
- Compiled by
- The ANYSTAT team, from the source above
How the figures are calculated
- Values are shown as reported by the source. Nothing is rescaled, rebased or converted — the only changes are thousand separators and decimals shown to two places.
- Entities are ranked highest-first on their value.
An article using this data
The US Has Caused More Global Warming Than Any Other Country: Historical CO2, Methane and Deforestation by Country
Global Carbon Budget and Jones et al. data: the US has emitted 434.9 billion tonnes of fossil CO2 since 1750 and caused 17.65% of global warming; China leads on...
Data Sources & References
All external sources cited in this dataset
Related Charts
More statistics on similar topics